Inkling Ascension (OLD)
by EximiusMax
Summary: Nathan and Diana, two ordinary Inklings that just recently moved to Inkopolis, have their lives turned upside down when mysterious occurrences begin to happen in the city. With the help of new allies, they must discover the cause of these occurrences and stop it before Inkopolis falls apart. (OLD STORY - New version coming soon.)
1. Chapter 1: Moving to a New City

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've expanded the chapter a bit. I'm trying to make this story as good as I can, which can be very difficult, and I'm currently working on changing some stuff. If you have any suggestions, please say so! (Not all ideas will be taken, but I'll put in whatever I see fit.) All favs, follows, and reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I'll try to have new chapters out on a regular basis, but events my interfere with my schedule, so I'll do the best I can!**_

Throughout the city of Inkopolis, home of the Inklings, the citizens were tending to their normal daily routines. Most of them were playing Turf Wars or were getting ready to play, but some were also simply hanging out in the city. But what they didn't know was that they were all recently saved from the Octarian forces.

The reason no one knew about this, was because the Octarians were stopped before they even reached Inkopolis by one young Inkling, who was known simply as Agent 3. That boy had single-handedly taken down the Octarians, and had just finished his ultimate fight with DJ Octavio, the Octarian King. Returning to the hero base, he rendezvoused with the leader of his team, Cap'n Cuttlefish.

"You've done it, bucko!" said Cuttlefish excitingly, "I want to thank you for saving Inkopolis! Well...no one will really be thanking you but me..."

"It's cool," said Agent 3.

"Well, I'm glad you've got things under control. What are ya gonna do now, bucko?"

"I really don't know. I think I'm just going to continue with my normal life, you know?"

"Huh? But...what if they-"

"Cuttlefish, it'll be fine. They'll never come back after a defeat like that."

"..."

"Well, I'll be off now. It felt good saving the world." The young boy then used Cuttlefish's manhole to leave Octo Valley. Cuttlefish was more or less surprised by Agent 3's actions, as he didn't expect him to leave so quickly.

"Kids today," he said to himself, "They were never in a rush to leave like that back in my day. Well, I hope the bucko does well." He headed inside his shack when an Inkling of about 19 years old arrived via the manhole. He had cyan hair and was wearing a white shirt with blue jeans and black shoes.

"Smith!" Cuttlefish said in surprise, "Where have you been all this time? Didn't ya say you'd be back by last week?"

"I never said I'd be back last week," said Smith, "I said I'd TRY to be back by last week. I got occupied by some relics I found on the way back, that's all. What's been happenin' lately?"

"My trusty team just beat the Octarians, that's what!"

"Huh? You mean your granddaughters-"

"Oh no no no! I hired a third agent, and he smashed his way right through them all! That bucko was a tough one!"

"I see. But that doesn't mean they won't return one day."

"I was thinking the same thing. The bucko thought otherwise, but I'll stay here anyway and keep a lookout for any...fishy activity."

"Alright. I'm gonna go study some stuff with these relics I found."

"Okay, bucko!"

"Please don't call me that..."

 _ **2 Years Later**_

Entering the door to his new home, a 15-year-old Inkling boy and skilled turf war player, named Nathan, was wondering about what he would find in the city of Inkopolis. He had just recently moved to the city, arriving from another town some miles away. He knew a lot about the city, as he had been there once before for a special turf war training session when he had just turned 14.

He was still unpacking, as he had brought all of his possessions with him of course. He wasn't the only newcomer to Inkopolis though, a very good friend of his was also moving to Inkopolis, luckily it was the apartment right next Nathan's. It took him hours to unpack, but he managed to do it eventually.

When he was done with his work, Nathan heard his cell phone ring. It was his friend, the one who moved to Inkopolis with him. He picked it up.

"Hello?" said Nathan.

"Hey Nath," said the friend, "It's me, Diana."

"Yes, I know."

"So are you finished unpacking yet?"

"Yep, just finished! What about you?"

"Not even close, heh heh. I just started like...an hour ago."

"Ya want me to come over and help ya out?"

"Oh! Sure! That would be great!"

"Heh heh, I'm on my way over."

"Thank you!"

"No problem." Nathan hung up and headed over to Diana's place to help her finish unpacking. When he got there, he could barely open the door.

"Oh! Nathan!" said Diana as she moved a few boxes away from the door. "Sorry about that!"

"It's cool," said Nathan, "How much have you got done?"

"Not much..."

"When did you get here?"

"About an hour ago."

"Why didn't you call me then?"

"I thought you were busy!"

"I was, but I would've come over to help even so!"

"I like to hear that."

"Let's head to the plaza tomorrow morning, let's have a Turf War or two!"

"Sounds like a plan! But I'm warning you, if we're on opposing teams, you're gonna get your face splatted!"

"Ha! We'll see about that!" The two continued to work, talking about what would happen tomorrow. Meanwhile, four beings had watched Nathan enter the building from the top of another. Two of them were male, and the other two were female.

"Inklings," said a female, "Pathetic creatures."

"That blue kid," said a male, who appeared to be a leader of the gang, "I know him."

"What?"

"Remember the attack we did a year ago?"

"Oh...and how he escaped and the Champion took you down?" The male grabbed the female by the throat.

"Don't. Talk. About that!" He let go. "I want you three to make contact with that guy and his buddy tomorrow."

"Contact? As in...destroy?"

"Heh heh, of course that's what I mean. Hmm...Hey you, dude!" The other male turned his head towards the other male. "You're in charge of the attack."

"What about you? What are you gonna do?"

"I have other business to attend to. Our king will be greatly disappointed if I'm not back by dawn. My ship is almost finished, after all. And I still have to tend to Abigail." He then left, heading for something in the plaza and exiting the city.

"When should we do it?" asked one of the members.

"We attack them when they least expect it," said the male, "That's when we should do it."

"Maybe after a Turf War match?"

"Hmmm...Yes...Yes! I like that! That is what we will do, then. We'll ambush them, get them with their guard down! We'll be dining on squid soup tomorrow night! Ha ha ha!"


	2. Chapter 2: Turf War and the Inknado

The next day, Nathan and Diana found their way to Inkopolis Plaza, where many Inkling were already hanging out, looking at shops, or heading for the Lobby to play an old-fashioned turf war. The two had never actually been in the plaza before, so they were clearly excited.

"Wow! This place is bigger than I first thought it would be!" said Diana excitedly.

"Yeah!" said Nathan, "I never expected the Inkopolis Tower to be so big!"

"Oh! Nathan, look!" Diana pointed at the Inkopolis News Studio.

"The Squid Sisters' Studio is in the plaza? I thought it was like...on the edge of downtown."

"I know, right! That's a surprise!"

"Tell me about it!"

"I'll admit, this place is epic! Should we head for the Lobby?"

"Ha ha, you're on!" The two Inklings headed right for the Lobby, equipping their weapons while they were at it. Battle were already going on in both of the current stages, so the two had to wait. Their own town, as most Inkling towns and cities outside of Inkopolis, had their own turf war matches at times, and their records were not effected by moving to Inkopolis.

Nathan, who's full name was actually Nathaniel, was an experienced veteran in Turf War matches. Having been doing it for over a year, Nathan was Level 20. Since teams have random players each time, Nathan sometimes had "idiotic" players, but he always seemed to be able to bring even a mindless team to victory. He was good with all weapon types, but preferred rollers, his special roller especially.

Diana had been doing Turf War as long as Nathan, but she wasn't quite as good as him. She was Level 20, like Nathan, but wasn't as much of a certain-victory teammate. Diana preferred quick weapons like the Carbon Roller or Aerospray RG, but what she excelled at using were chargers, especially her favored weapon, the E-Liter 3K Scope. She often used the Kelp Splatterscope, however.

"Hey dude?" said one of other Inkling boys to Nathan, "I haven't seen you around before. Are you new to Turf War?"

"No. I'm new to the city," Nathan replied. "Me and my friend here just moved here yesterday. We're turf war veterans."

"Ah, veterans, eh?" said another inkling, "What level are ya?" The players looks at the giant screen in the lobby that listed all the players. Next the

Nathan's picture, it said "Level 20".

"He's a veteran all right," said yet another player.

"Yep, he sure is!" said Diana.

"Hey, what weapon do you use?" asked a player.

"This," said Nathan as he drew out his roller weapon. It was unlike any other the players had seen. It looked similar to a silver version of the Hero Roller Replica with yellow lights instead of sky blue. Its design was also different. It seemed to be made of metal.

"Whoa, dude!" said a player, "What the hell is that thing?!"

"I've never seen anything like it!" said another.

"This is limited-edition weapon sold exclusively at the shop back where I used to live," Nathan explained, "I got it for my 15th birthday a few months back. It's called the Silver Hero Roller, it has some enhanced stats, its sub weapon is the Splat Bomb, and its special is the new Inknado!"

"INKNADO?!" everyone said.

"Dude, I've heard about it, but I've never seen it!" said a player excitingly, "No weapons with it come to Inkopolis stores until tomorrow, and I've been DYING to see it! What's it like?!"

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" said Nathan, "You'll all see it, I'm sure."

"Wait...the Inknado wasn't released until AFTER you got the weapon! How'd you-"

"The storekeeper wanted to test the special, but he was sold out on weapons. So I let him use mine as a 'test dummy'. Heh heh, everybody was jealous, but I didn't rub it in."

"Oh yeah, that's right!"

"Hey wait..." said a player, "If it isn't released yet...why are you allowed to bring it?"

"The weapon was approved," said Nathan, "It's been tested and okay for battle. So I'm allowed to bring it in, despite that it hasn't released here."

"Oh..."

"Hey guys! The match is about to start!" said another player, "It's going to be in...Walleye Warehouse!"

"Alright!" said Diana, "Let's go!" Within minutes, the players were at the splatterfield. Nathan and Diana were on opposite sides, and the two wished each other luck before going to their starting points. Nathan an Diana were placed on their respective teams, Nathan on Team Blue and Diana on Team Orange. Judd was watching the players prepare, ready to try out a collar that let him talk in words.

"Ready...GO!" yelled Judd, and the players were off. Nathan and another player covered the zone, while the other two headed straight for the field. Team Blue was composed of a roller user (Nathan), two shooters, and a sniper. Team Orange had an Inkbrush user, a Blaster user, a shooter, and a sniper (Diana).

By the time the two players reached the main open area at the center of Walleye, two orange players were heading for the area as well. Diana took cover from behind a wall and aimed for the two blue players. She managed to splat one with the E-Liter 3K Scope, which she ultimately decided to bring with her.

The other blue player spotted Diana and charged at her. He quickly hid in his ink to chase her just as Nathan and all the other players arrived on the scene. A splat battle broke out between some while others tended to inking up the battleground. Nathan focused on building up his special meter in order to unleash the Inknado, but it was hard since much of the arena was already covered with blue ink.

He decided to head towards the enemy base and spawnpoint. He had to be extremely careful, as he would either successfully fill the special meter or get splatted and have to recharge most of it. He managed to get it fully charged and his hair started glowing, but wanted to save it for the right moment.

"Stored up I see?" said an orange player. Nathan soon found himself surrounded by three orange players. Diana wasn't there, but all the others were there. Nathan stood still for a few moments, then quickly splatted the player to the right of him and escaped by swimming through blue ink.

With only 30 seconds left on the clock, Nathan found the three orange player spraying the battlefield and heading right for him. Diana was on top of a wall, aiming at Nathan. He then decided now was the time to unleash Inknado. He could splat three players at once if he did.

"Special weapon: Inknado!" yelled Nathan as a massive gun, resembling the Inkzooka, appeared. The orange members stopped dead in their tracks as Nathan puleld the trigger and fired a large projectile that quickly turned into a massive, swirling blue ink tornado headed straight forward.

"Whoa!" yelled a player.

"Oh shit!" yelled an orange player, "Run away! RUN AWAY!" The giant tornado moved like a massive Inkzooka blast, only slower and much. much more lethal. The tornado sucked in the nearby orange players, splatting all three. The beast of a special wasn't slowed down by walls, and left a huge ink trail behind it. It came very close to Diana as it began to die down and soon disappeared. The clock had reached zero that exact moment. There was silence. Even Judd was surprised at the special weapon's power. Eventually, he regathered himself.

"Uh...ahem!" said Judd, "What a finish! Anyway, the match is over. The winner is..." He paused for a moment. "Team Blue! Winning 71.2% to 27.7%!" Team Blue rejoiced for their victory, but their attention was on Nathan especially.

"Dude," said a player, "YOU. ARE. AWESOME!"

"Definitely the freshest squid in Inkopolis!" said another.

"Oh, oh! You should go against the champion!" another player suggested.

"Yeah!" the other two said.

"Champion? You mean X?" said Nathan.

"Yep! No one's ever defeated Champion X in a battle before, whether it be Turf War, Splat Zones, Tower Control, whatever! I think you have what it take to beat him!"

"Hmmm, nah. Not interested."

"Huh?! Why?"

"I don't really want the Championship title just yet. Maybe one day, just not today."

"I see. Well, good luck man! See ya next time!" A few minutes later, Nathan and Diana met up and walked back home so they could explore Inkopolis more.

"You where awesome in that Turf War, Nathan!" said Diana, "That Inknado was...just...WOW! I can't wait to see what other new specials they'll come up with in the future!"

"Yeah," Nathan replied, "I wonder that myself."

"You know, I like to think that-"

"Shh."

"Huh? Why?"

"I heard something. Something fishy."

"What?" Diana whispered as she equipped her E-Liter. The two stayed in place, and heard something. It sounded like footsteps. Nathan then looked up the see magenta ink flying down towards them.

"Get down!" said Nathan as he shoved himself and Diana out of harm's way. He equipped his roller and saw three Octolings, two female and one male, drop down.

"What the-?!" said Diana.

"Octolings..."

"What are they doing here?!"

"I have a different question..." said the male Octoling, "How long will you survive?"

"Alright Octojerks," said Nathan, "Let's dance."


	3. Chapter 3: Disappearances

The three octolings fired at Nathan and Diana, who managed to dodge. Spraying some of their own ink, the two sank into the ink. The Nathan's gear had the Ninja Squid ability, so he managed to swim unseen. Diana didn't have this ability, and one of the octolings spotted ripples in the ink. Thankfully, however, Nathan managed to splat her from behind before she could fire at Diana. Diana emerged from her ink.

"Alright," said Diana, "2 on 2. We can handle 'em!"

"Heh!" said the female Octoling, "As if!" Both the male and female began firing again, this time more aggressively. Hiding and swimming in their ink, the two octolings attacked the two inklings. Nathan took aim at the male while Diana took aim at the female.

The octoling that Diana was dealing with climbed up a wall and jumped off to attack from above. Diana would've gotten splatted by a Burst Bomb if she hadn't heard sound of the ink splashing as the octoling jumped out of it. She fired at Diana again, but Diana simply swam up behind her and splatted her. Diana then meet back up with Nathan.

"One left," said Nathan, "He's toast."

"Oh I've got something VERY special to share with you guys!" said the remaining male octoling. He took out a large charger-like weapon, with an attachment that looked like a blaster weapon. It had to be held by two hands, as it seemed quite heavy. The octoling fired a large, fast-moving ink sphere from the blaster part of the weapon.

"Whoa!" said Nathan and Diana as they dodged the projectile. When it hit the wall, it created a large explosion, bigger than any other blaster, with the radius twice the size of a Splat Bomb. "What the-" The octoling then fired a shot from the charger part of the weapon, blasting Nathan right in the stomach, knocking him down but not splatting him.

"Nathan!" yelled Diana.

"Don't worry...Ow...I'm fine..." said Nathan, "Just give me a minute to get up..."

"Grrr..." Diana glared at the male octoling, who was smiling at his work. "You piece of-!" Diana charged at the him at full force. He fired at her, but Diana managed to evade the attacks. She tackled him, pinning him to the ground and aiming her E-Liter 3K Scope right at his head.

The male grabbed the gun and attempted to move it away from his head, and was succeeding in doing so. Diana tried to keep the charger where she wanted it, but it was no use. The octoling punched her in the jaw, stunning her, and slammed her into the wall, punched her in the stomach, and aimed his own weapon right at Diana's head.

Diana desperately tried to push the weapon away, but the octoling kept fighting back, making it very difficult. By some luck, Nathan had recovered and slammed the octoling in the side of the head with his Silver Hero Roller, splatting him instantly.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked.

"...Yeah," said Diana, "Are you?"

"Never better." Nathan helped Diana up. "You're still as bold as you where back home, y'know?"

"Heh heh, yeah."

"Let's go back to Inkopolis Plaza. We may find someone who can help. Octolings attacking out of nowhere is nothing normal."

"I agree. Let's hurry." Nathan and Diana unequipped their weapons and headed for the plaza as fast as they could. Thankfully, they were close to it.

When they got there, they looked around for someone who could help. But they knew that if they tried to tell any random person, they wouldn't believe them. Suddenly however, the Inkopolis News station came on, and the Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie, were on the big screen on their studio.

"Hold on to your tentacles!" said Callie.

"It's Inkopolis News time!" said Marie. Nathan realized that Callie wasn't as enthusiastic as she usually was, which surprised him.

"Today, we have some BREAKING NEWS!"

"What is it?! What is it?!"

"Well...actually it's more...ALARMING news!" Some people in the plaza stopped to hear the broadcast.

"What is- Wait, huh?"

"They've been reports lately of...disappearances."

"Of what? Food? Items?"

"No! Inklings!" Everyone in the entire plaza froze.

"Wait WHAT?!"

"There have been several reports of people missing from their homes!"

"You mean...they're gone?!"

"Yeah! I heard the number of reports has reached somewhere around 50!"

"Uh oh...what clues do we have?"

"Nothing! They just...disappeared without a trace!"

"Uh oh! Not good!"

"Do you think..."

"Do I think what?!"

"That...that THEY are..."

"What?! But they were defeated two years ago!"

"I don't wanna talk about his anymore..."

"Yeah, let's just move on to the current stages..." The two then revealed the current battle stages, pretending as if they hadn't heard the story, and stopped the broadcast. They said "stay fresh" as usual, but they sounded more worried.

The entire plaza seemed to be frozen in time. No one moved. After nearly a minute of silence, everyone was talking about the events. What was going on? What would happen to them? Questions and fear and anxiety were heard all over. Even Judd was awakened from his slumber by the broadcast.

"This is NOT good!" said Nathan.

"Inklings disappearing without a trace?!" said Diana.

"If Octolings are in the city...I'll bet the Octarians are behind this!"

"But can we do about it?"

"Um..." Nathan then spotted someone going into a manhole by a group of trash cans. He couldn't tell who it was, as the man and descended so fast, but he was able to see that it was an Inkling in humanoid form. He headed for the manhole. "Over here!" Diana followed him.

"What? It's a sewer..."

"I saw someone go into it. And looking inside...it seems kinda clean. Like someone's keeping it tidy."

"Huh. Odd."

"Maybe that person I saw could help us?"

"I don't know...if he lives in a sewer then..."

"Diana. It's worth a try."

"...Alright. Let's go."

"Okay." Nathan turned into squid form and went into the manhole. Diana hesitated at first, but did the same. The two went through a long passageway through the pipes. Both were surprised on how fast they were going within those pipes. Within a mere 15 seconds, they found themselves at the end of the path. It turned out that the "sewer" was actually a passage to a place known as Octo Valley.

When Nathan and Diana leaped out of the other side of the manhole, they found themselves in Octo Valley, and were surprised at the surroundings.

"Whoa...where are we?" said Diana.

"I...don't know," said Nathan.

"Whoa! Nathan, look!" Diana pointed to Inkopolis in the distance. "We are NOT in Inkopolis anymore!"

"Wow...Just wow..."

"STAND BACK OCTOJERKS!" yelled someone from behind. Nathan turned behind and was shot in the face by a shooter, covering his face in ink. The person holding the shooter quickly realized that Nathan and Diana were just Inklings, and threw the gun away.

"Oh...heh heh, sorry buckos! I thought you were those pesky octolings again."

"It's fine," said Nathan as he wiped the ink off his face, "We all make mistakes."

"You alright?"

"Yep, I'm alright."

"That's a relief! I would hate it if I hurt ya, bucko!"

"So um, who are you?" asked Diana.

"Me? Why, my name is Cap'n Cuttlefish! I'm here to look out for any fishy activity from the Octarians."

"So you're keeping watch over the Octarians?"

"That's right! I had a team two years ago that beat the Octarians! We gave 'em what for, though! We beat 'em before they could be any damage on Inkopolis!"

"So you're the leader of some kind of military team?"

"Well, back in my younger days. Two years ago, it was more of an agent squad. My granddaughters, Agents 1 and 2, were also part of the team. But Agent 3 was a legend! He was the one who beat down the Octarian King...and pretty much everything else. Me and Agents 1 and 2 were his support team.

"Really?"

"Yep! But recently, I've discovered that they've returned, and they're already wreaking havoc in Inkopolis! They've grown stronger...they've...they've..."

"I knew it!" said Nathan, "I knew the Octarians were behind it!"

"Yes! They are! But I hope you don't mind if I ask, why are you here?"

"We were attacked by a group of octolings after a Turf War match," said Diana, "One of 'em had an odd weapon...it was a Blaster and a charger merged into one! After we splatted them, we headed for the plaza and discovered that citizens have started to go missing in Inkopolis!"

"What?! It's true?!"

"Yes! We saw someone go through the manhole and decided to follow him...or her. We were looking for help."

"You must have seen me," said a male voice. It was Smith, a member of Cuttlefish's new team and the grandson of one of his deceased friends.

"And you are...?" asked Nathan.

"My name's Smith. I'm the scientist of the New Squidbeak Splatoon."

"New Squidbeak Splatoon?"

"Follow me," said Cuttlefish, "I'll explain over here." Nathan, Diana, and Smith followed Cuttlefish into his nearby house


	4. Chapter 4: The New Squidbeak Splatoon

"Two years ago the Octarians started stealing Zapfish, our valued power supply," said Smith, "It's unknown exactly why they did, though. They even somehow managed to steal the Great Zapfish, which the Octarian King used to power up his mega weapon during the final battle."

"Yeah...I remember hearing about that on the news," said Nathan.

"Them Octarians were intending to steal our power supply and take over Inkopolis! But thankfully, my New Squidbeak Splatoon beat 'em! We disbanded then, but now that they've returned, I've reformed it. Smith isn't an agent, but he's part of it. The only returning agents are Agents 1 and 2. Agent 3 left and I don't know where he is now.'

"Have you heard from him since?" asked Diana.

"I heard from him a few months ago," said Smith, "He said he was moving from Inkopolis to another place. I didn't want to believe this next part but, when he was traveling overseas, there was a big storm. I think it might of been a hurricane, but I'm not sure. It completely destroyed the ship, and you know what happens to inklings when they fall into large bodies of water."

"So he died?" said Nathan.

"Actually no! Remarkably, he landed on a lifeboat, and he made it to another town. That's were he's living now, and we haven't heard from him since his called us to confirm he was alive." Diana was silent for a few moments, turning her head away. She seemed as if she was reminded of something.

"It's happening again..." said Diana.

"They're coming back, are they?" said Nathan.

"What are coming back?" asked Smith.

"Nothing important," said Diana, "Just some...nevermind."

"I see. Anyway, Cuttlefish decided that because Agent 3 was such a remarkable agent, no other agent can have his codename. Besides, he won't need to change his codename if he ever decides to come back."

"So, what can we do about the current situation? asked Nathan, "If the Octarians are in fact responsible for the recent disappearances, then we have to act fast!"

"I'm trying to get some new recruits," said Cuttlefish, "But no one believes me when I say that the Octarians are back, even under the current situations! I'm having a lot of trouble finding anyone... Hey...You two beat three octolings. Maybe you can help me defeat them! What do ya say?" Nathan and Diana looked at each other, an then at Inkopolis in the distance out the window of the household. The two then nodded at each other.

"I saw those octolings trying to kill us," said Nathan, "They looked like they meant business. They were aggressive and focused on getting rid of us. If they want to take Inkopolis..."

"They're gonna have to go through us," said Diana.

"We're in."

"Ah, thanks so much, buckos!" said Cuttlefish excitingly, shaking Nathan's hand and then Diana's, "I greatly appreciate that your willing to defend your city! ...Oh! Pfft! I almost forgot to ask for your names! What are they?"

"I'm Nathaniel," said Nathan, "but I prefer to be called Nathan. I'm a Level 20 Turf War veteran and a roller user. However, I'm also pretty good with a shooter, too."

"And my name's Diana," said Diana, "I'm skilled with charger weapons, but like Nathan here, I can use a shooter pretty well too. I'm also a Level 20 Turf War player."

"Nice to meet ya!" said Cuttlefish. "Well, now I gotta give you your codenames. Nathan, you'll be Agent 4. Diana, you'll be Agent 5. Is that okay?"

"Sounds okay to me," said Nathan.

"Same," said Diana.

"I'm glad," said Cuttlefish, "How we need to get you geared up!" Cuttlefish lead them to a room with an entire collection of Hero Suit sets. "These are Hero Suits I've made for my agents. Give 'em a try! There are some changing rooms over there." Nathan and Diana each entered a room and put the suits on. When they came out, they examined the outfit on themselves.

"Hmm..It does looks cool and it's comfortable," said Nathan.

"It's kinda like armor, actually!" said Diana.

"I guess it'll work."

"I'll try to make more versions in the future," said Smith, "But this is all we have for now."

"Fine by me."

"In terms of weapons," said Cuttlefish, "I've developed this special Hero Shot. As you progress through your adventure, we can try to upgrade them with the things we find."

"Understood." Nathan and Diana each took a Hero Shot.

"Well, that's it! You're ready for battle, buckos! We can all contact each other using the headset part of the gear. Now, we need to act fast! Who know what will happen if we linger! Unfortunately, I'm too old to fight. I cannot help you in person, but me and Smith here will keep you updated on battle intel and give you advice along the way.

"Understood," said Diana.

"The path ahead is dangerous," said Smith, "It's much more than three octolings, you're dealing with a whole damn army this time. Be careful out there."

"We're best friends," said Nathan, "We'll protect each other."

"...! Yeah!" said Diana, blushing a bit. Nathan noticed.

"You alright, Diana?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I think he's referring to your blushing, dear," said Smith.

"What? I'm not blushing!"

"Heh heh, whatever. C'mon," said Nathan. Nathan and Diana exited the house.

"Oh, and one more thing!" said Cuttlefish, "Those kettles over there are like paths to the Octarian's world. They'll lead you straight to it!"

"Thanks for the info, Cap'n!" said Diana as they headed for the nearest kettle into the Octarian world.

"You ready for this?" asked Nathan.

"Totally," said Diana, "Not sure what to expect, but I'm ready for whatever comes next!"

"Bold as ever, I see! I like it!" Nathan entered the kettle first, and Diana followed him.


	5. Chapter 5: The First Mission

Nathan and Diana landed in one of the Octarian's underground kettles, and were surprised at the surroundings. Backdrops of the sky were pasted on the walls of the dome, and they were so realistic that Nathan first thought it was actually the sky. There was an enormous light bulb the size of a 5-floor apartment building on the dome's ceiling that kept the place lit up, representing the sun. There was no grass, no plant life, and no soil. Just rock and metal.

"Wow..." said Diana, "This is actually kinda impressive...for a bunch of octopi."

"Yeah," said Nathan.

"Agents 4 and 5? Do you read me?" said Cuttlefish over the headset of the Hero Suits.

"Loud and clear."

"Good! Then the headsets are working properly! Okay, listen! Your goal is to find out why those Inklings have gone missing. My granddaughters are telling me that more have disappeared since you were last in the city, so hurry up!"

"Gotcha, Captain!" said Diana.

"Great! Cuttlefish out!"

"Okay," said Nathan, "I don't know what they're gonna throw at us, but I bet it'll involve Octolings sooner or later. Make sure you gun isn't jammed or anything. Because if it is we might be in some trouble."

"I checked on the way down here," said Diana.

"That's good. Now let's move." Nathan and Diana progressed forward.

"Octarians ahead!" said Cuttlefish, "Be careful! Get behind a wall if you're hurtin', got it?"

"Alright." said Nathan as he and Diana stationed themselves behind a wall to load their weapons. "They're just three basic Octotroopers, they shouldn't be much work to take out."

"Hopefully they're easier than those Octolings we fought," said Diana.

"Tell me about it." The two then emerged from behind the wall and opened fire, dispatching the alarmed Octarians.

"Nice job, buckos!" said Cuttlefish.

"Told you, Diana," said Nathan, "Easy."

"Yeah, now lets clean up this octo ink," Diana replied.

"Right. Trying to walk in that stuff is useless." Nathan and Diana converted their ink color to green in order to place an ink trail and decided to remain that way for the remainder of the mission. Using a Launchpad to get to the next area, they took out the Octotroopers guarding the area and examined it once they were all defeated. They found a large, broken tank that looked at if it had held a captive. Inside was yellow ink.

"Oh my-" said Diana, "Now we KNOW they're responsible!"

"What is it?" said Smith over the headset, "What did you find?"

"It appears to be a broken giant container," said Nathan.

"I see it."

"Huh?"

"Your headsets also have a camera on 'em. So that way we can see what's going on. It can even be turned on and off, which is a feature I don't really agree with."

"I see. Anyway, I think it had an Inkling inside, there's yellow ink all over the inside."

"I knew it!" said Cuttlefish, "I fish-flippin' knew it! They're taking Inklings alright! Look around more and see what you can find."

"Understood," said Nathan, "We gotta hurry. This early in the mission and we're already discovering what's going on. But now comes the question: Why? Why are they taking Inklings? There has to be a reason to all this. They wouldn't just take random Inklings for no reason."

"Could it be a warning?" Diana suggested.

"I don't think so..." Nathan said as he pointed to a red stain on the glass of the tank, some of the red mixed with the yellow. Diana gasped.

"Is that-?!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty damn sure it is. We gotta move." Nathan continued the path.

"...But...I thought they were never that brutal..." Diana whispered to herself.

"Diana!"

"Oh!" She caught up with Nathan and followed him up the path. She was disturbed by the red stain despite it being rather small, but got over it quickly once it was out of her sights. It was a reminder of something that happened in her own past, an event she could never forget, but she definitely wanted to forget it.

Eventually, after dealing with more Octotroopers and some Octocopters, the two made it to another launchpad and continued onward. When they got to the next area, they realized that it was completely empty. It was just a large platform with nothing on it except themselves.

"What?" said Diana, "This has to be some kind of trap..."

"I was thinking the same thing. Keep your guard up," said Nathan. They waited for at least a minute, and nothing happened. They began to wonder why. They ventured the area, and that's when multiple Octotroopers and Octocopters appeared. "Of course..."

The two opened fire at the Octarians, battling them with all they got. Nathan sometimes got physical and ended up kicking one in the face very hard and punching another one. Diana knew Nathan took this kind of stuff very seriously, especially since it was Octarians.

"It seems they've gotten more...brutal, hasn't it?" asked Diana.

"Yeah," Nathan said, "Do you think their leader is to blame? You think that after one defeat he'd get really angry, maybe even get driven to the brink of insanity?"

"Perhaps."

"But anyway, keep fighting! Don't wanna lose ya!"

"...Right!" The two continued to splat the Octarian forces, one by one. Both had a few close calls, but they managed to stay alive throughout the attack. When it was done, the two decided to clean up the magenta ink with their green ink.

"Alright!" said Nathan, "We did it!"

"Think again, Inkling!" yelled a voice. Suddenly, an enormous flying large ship-like vessel, equipped with large thrusters to keep it airborne, flew into the air and above the two agents.

"What the-?!" said Nathan.

"What the hell is THAT?!" yelled Diana. It was the Octarian Airship, and it was as big as an entire fortress. It pulled up by the edge of the platform the two were standing on, showing an Octoling commander.

"This war has only just begun," the commander said. He was about 19 years old and had superior height.

"Who are you?!" asked Diana.

"I am the Octarian Army Commander and the king's top adviser, Nero. What do you think of my ship? Worked on it for three years. We would have won two years ago if I could've finished it in that time. But you, boy, you've been most interesting. You and your friend even took out my three pals. I should've known that they wouldn't have stood a chance against you, though."

"We know what you're up to, Nero," said Nathan, "You Octarians are responsible for the Inkling disappearances! I wanna know why."

"..."

"Well, spit it out!" yelled Diana.

"Ha ha ha...it is too early to reveal our plans to you. But I can tell you that your little hypothesis is in fact the conclusion. We have been stealing Inklings, but why? I am not allowed to say. The King would be very displeased, and very angry."

"I care little about the king!" Diana scalded, "What are you doing with those Inklings?!"

"My my, aren't we impatient. You'll find out soon enough, little girl. But I have to leave now, you see. Au revoir." The airship then flew away into a large opening in the dome into another, taking off and flying away.

"No! Urgh! Nathan, I wanna know what this is about!"

"I do too," said Nathan, "But he's not willing to cooperate. We'll find out soon. For now, let's head back to base, we need to tell Cuttlefish the news. Hopefully he's found more agents."

"Agents 4 and 5, do you read?" said Smith, "Cuttlefish wants you back at base now, he wants to introduce you two to Agents 1 and 2."

"Got it." Nathan and Diana headed to back to the kettle, exiting the dome and returning to base to inform Cuttlefish and Smith of the news.


	6. Chapter 6: The Team Assembles

The two Inklings, reverted back to their original colors, were utterly shocked at what they saw in the last mission. Nathan had suspected that the Octarians had been the ones responsible for the missing Inklings, but the blood stain surprised him. Diana was most shocked, but looking back she had a feeling it wasn't the Octarians' fault. Perhaps the Inkling scrapped his or her arm on some glass while escaping? The two arrived at base a few minutes after Smith contacted them.

"We're back," said Nathan.

"Excellent, you're unharmed!" said Smith outside Cuttlefish's house, "I just finished the underground base, too."

"Huh?"

"It's not too far, it's just right under this house. It's much bigger than it though, it's quite a complex. The Octarian kettles are much, much farther underground, and the walls have a special material in them that prevents the Octarians from discovering this place. Let's go in, shall we?"

Smith lead them into the house. He pressed down a blue button and turned it about 30 degrees clockwise. A section of the wall opened up like a door to reveal an elevator. The elevator doors were silver and the door frame was glowing blue. The three got in and Smith pressed the B1 button, labeled "Main Base". The elevator headed downwards and stopped at the B1 floor.

The elevator doors opened and they entered a large room. It had dark dark blue walls, almost black, with light blue lights. There were multiple screens on the north wall, the huge one being the main supercomputer, with four other smaller screens on each side of the big screen and a control panel in front of it. Equipment was on the walls, and there were multiple other, smaller computers on a long desk along the west wall. Some were blueprints, some were maps, and there was more for other purpose too. There was also a door that lead to another hallway that lead to other places throughout the headquarters.

"Oh my gosh!" said Diana, "This is incredible! Did you build this?!"

"Cuttlefish and Agents 1 and 2 helped me," said Smith.

Cuttlefish was standing with Agents 1 and 2 by the supercomputer. "We all contributed to the construction of this place," he said, "Smith built the computers and technology, including that big supercomputer! I helped design the design the place-"

Agent 1 interrupted, "While me and Agent 2 here helped out with developing some for the software and the glowing stuff was made by us, too. We make a lot of stuff that lights up, ya know."

"I see," said Nathan, "This is actually really awesome!"

"We put a lot of effort into this," said Cuttlefish, "It's going to be our new HQ. But anyway, I'd like to introduce you two to Agents 1 and 2 here. They're my grandsquids!"

Agent 1 wore a magenta short sleeve t-shirt with the Cuttlegear logo with a "1" in the middle on the back over a three-quarter sleeve black shirt, she had a magenta beanie with a yellow star on the side on her head, and wore black boots with magenta soles. She also wore magenta, fingerless gloves.

Agent 2 wore a white t-shirt with a green jacket with the Cuttlegear logo with a "2" in the middle on the back, similar to Agent 1's outfit, she had a green sports visor on and a face mask over her face, and wore boots similar to Agent 1's, only they were white and had green soles. She also had white gloves on.

"So you're the other members of the Splatoon?" asked Nathan.

"Yep!" said Agent 1, "We are! Me and Agent 2 here were Agent 3's support team!"

"Yep," said Agent 2, "Before we...just kinda stuck around here. But this time, we're-"

"Gonna help you in the battlefield!"

"Ugh...Sometimes, not always."

"I see," said Diana, "So are you two sisters?"

"Cousins, actually," said Agent 2 answered.

"Oh!"

"So, now that the team has been assembled," said Smith, "We can go over our plans as a whole."

"Yes," said Cuttlefish, "Our camera were off during that last part of your missions, Agents 4 and 5 due to Smith having to do updates on the supercomputer. So what did you see?"

"Something big," said Nathan, "It was a gigantic Airship! It was literally an enormous flying metal ship, equipped with really powerful thrusters to keep it airborne. I also saw some super big blasters on it, too!"

"I spotted a few Splatling guns on it, too!" said Diana, "That big ship seemed capable of doing some serious damage! I'm not sure who was driving it, but we do know who the commander is."

"His name was Nero. He was about a half of a foot taller than me and had a long tentacle bang over his right eye. He had a steel chest plate on with a single shoulder guard, and he had torn tan pants and dark boots."

"I've encountered him before!" said Agent 1, "He was huge! Nero's not one to mess with. I heard rumors that when he gets angry, ho ho, he get's FURIOUS!"

"I've heard those same rumors," said Smith, "He's definitely not the one I'd wanna go against in a duel."

Diana was looking away, and Nathan noticed. "Is something wrong, Diana?"

"What?" said Diana.

"You were looking away..."

"I was just looking at that door over there. I'm curious about what's behind it."

"I'll give ya the grand tour once we're done talkin', okay bucko?" said Cuttlefish.

"Sounds good to me."

"Great! Anyway, those guys have really stepped up their game."

"Who?" asked Agent 1.

"Oy...He's obviously talking about the Octarians," said Agent 2.

Cuttlefish continued, "I can't remember them being THIS strong since the Great Turf War decades ago!"

"Wait..." said Nathan, "You were IN the Great Turf War?!"

"Matter of fact, I was kiddo! I was the leader of the legendary Squidbeak Splatoon! I used to be able to take 'em down with my bare hands! But...I've aged...a lot. But that hasn't killed my spirit!"

"You are pretty courageous and have a strong spirit, gramps!" said Agent 1, "You're my inspiration!"

"He could've been Agent 3's too," said Agent 2, "But I guess you never know."

"Thank you, kiddos!" said Cuttlefish, "You two really are the best grandkids ever!"

"Thanks gramps!" said Agent 1

"You're welcome! But anyway, back to the task at hand..."

"Right," said Nathan, "Those Octarians are pretty rough."

"Yeah," said Agent 2, "They seem way more aggressive then they where the last time we fought them."

"Maybe Octavio snapped," said Smith.

"Octavio?" Diana said in confusion.

"The Octarian King," said Cuttlefish, "He's the big boss. He's got to be the one who ordered the Octarians to be squidnapped."

"So...if we find him, then their entire army falls apart?"

"Yeah," said Agent 2, "But the problem is that getting to him is gonna take a while. A LONG WHILE."

"Well," said Nathan, "We'll have to find more kettles and get to different areas until we find him."

"Some of the domes are actually connected," said Cuttlefish, "So one kettle could lead to two domes. We'll have to explore, the more we do, the more kettles we'll find. Eventually, we should find the key to the boss kettle and then we can find even more. The process then repeats itself 'til we find Octavio."

"Alright then," said Nathan, "Let's head back down and see what we can find."

"We're coming with ya!" said Agent 1.

"Alright," said Diana, "Then let's move out!"

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

"Listen well soldiers!" said Nero in front of about fifteen Octoling soldiers aboard the Airship, "The Inklings are planning on rising against us once again. We must do everything we can to keep them from crushing our hopes of victory. We do NOT, I repeat NOT, want a repeat of our last uprising or the Great Turf War."

As Nero kept talking on, one Octoling by the name of Abigail was caught up in her own thoughts. She wasn't thinking about Octarian victory at all, but rather something else. Nero noticed this.

"Abigail!" he yelled.

"Oh! Uh! Wh-What?!" Abigail said, frightened.

"Pay attention for once!"

"Yes sir..."

"...Oh? Is this a tone of frustration I hear in your voice?" Nero walked up to her and lifted Abigail's chin up so that she faced him, her face clearly showing that she was frustrated. "You get more interesting every day. Tell me, what are you thinking about?"

"You know what I'm thinking about, Nero."

"Please don't tell me you're thinking of THAT again. Because that is just ridiculous! Ha!" Nero laughed, with the other soldiers laughing alongside him. "Give it up already." She let go of Abigail and walked back to the center of the room. "You're in this army for a reason, ya know. I expect a certain criteria from you, and many things with you still need a bit of work."

"Do you think I care?" Abigail said harshly. All of the other soldiers gasped and sighed and stared at Abigail.

"...No, I didn't. But you must still follow my orders regardless. You are all dismissed until the next call." All of the soldiers left, including Abigail, who gave Nero one last glare before exiting. Nero stood in the center of the room, muttering to himself before saying, "That Abigail is such a mysterious Octoling...Makes me wonder how she could have managed to make it this far in life."


	7. Chapter 7: Enemies Strike

Arriving in the same dome they were in before, Nathan and Diana, alongside Agents 1 and 2, decided to investigate the dome again for hints on the key's location.

"So...where do we start?" Diana asked.

"The boss key won't be in this one most likely," said Agent 1, "I think it'll be in another one."

"But to unlock the kettles ahead we need to get to the area it leads to or activate them manually," said Agent 2.

"What?" Nathan said in confusion.

"Think of it like a checkpoint," said Smith over the headsets, "When we reach one, it'll activate a new kettle. Otherwise, we need to find the kettle ourselves. We can do that by shooting ink at the Octarian symbols on the ground in Octo Valley. There are three boss kettles in total, and the rest is found..."

"Found where?"

"Uh...hehe...We don't know yet..."

"That's fine, we don't need that info right now," said Diana.

"Focus on your mission for now," said Cuttlefish, "We'll find Octavio soon. Over and out...Oh wait, by the way! Use those wristwatches on your arms if you need help. They're wireless connected to your headsets, you can use them to activate them and contact your allies."

"Really?"

"Yep! You can contact all of us at once or you can choose to contact only certain teammates. You can also send a distress signal with 'em. The signal

"Got it!"

"Okay, Cuttlefish out!"

"Okaaaaaay," said Agent 2, "Sooo we look for the key and look for more kettles if we don't find it?"

"Sounds like it," said Nathan.

"Soooo should we look around?" asked Diana.

"We looked here before and found nothing, but I guess a second look wouldn't hurt. Let's split up, we can cover more ground that way."

"Sounds like a plan," said Agent 2. The four split up and looked for any sign of a key. Nathan returned to the broken container that he and Diana found the last time. He examined it closer, now that the yellow ink had faded it was easier to analyze what happened. He figured that the container must've dropped from above, and it must have been from a height high enough the break the glass on impact.

He looked at the back of the container and found another stain of red on the ground and on the edge of a glass shard. He realized that the stain was definitely blood, and that both this stain and the previous one were likely from the impact. Glass shards could easily cut through flesh, Nathan knew that from experience. He sighed.

He knew that Octarians probably didn't cause the blood stains, but he still didn't know why they were taking Inklings in the first place. Nathan thought about it but couldn't think of a reason off the top of his head. He had to really think. He examined the container itself more, hoping that it might shed some light on the situation.

He moved the container onto it's side. Being cylindrical, Nathan had to keep it from rolling away. He discovered a small but broken tube on the bottom, and upon farther inspection noticed more smaller tubes inside the container.

"What the hell?" Nathan thought to himself. He couldn't figure out why tubes were in the container. Perhaps it was for ventilation? Nathan looked at the top of the container to find what looked like a label sticker on it. It read "019", which Nathan guessed was some kind of label for whoever was in it.

Nathan had a feeling that whatever they wanted with these Inklings, it couldn't have been good. But the same question kept flying in his mind: Why? Why were Inklings being captured. Nathan looked around for more hints, eventually ending up on the large platform were he encountered Nero.

Looking around, he noticed another container that wasn't there before at the corner of the platform. This one was in perfect condition, but it was empty. Nathan saw that there was no big tube connected to the bottom, but the smaller tubes were still intact and each of them were connected from the top of the container's interior to the bottom of it.

Nathan scratched his head, thinking, but then noticed a camera placed on a pole nearby, facing him. That's when Nathan realized he was right in the middle of a trap. Several Octarians surrounded him. The container opened up behind Nathan, and he quickly realized that they were trying to get him inside it.

Nathan moved away from the container and fired at the surrounding Octarians. Taking them out with ease, he headed back for the main path when a team of six Octolings jumped from an area above and ambushed Nathan. Outnumbered, but still with a strong spirit, Nathan fought them all one by one.

He had to get physical more than once, as some Octolings seemed to prefer violence over an ink battle. Nathan was displaced, but managed anyway. However, after three of them were defeated, the remaining three ganged up on Nathan. They completely dropped their weapons and headed for Nathan with their bare hands.

Nathan opened fire, but one Octoling managed to somehow knock the weapon out of Nathan's hand. Desperate, he looked around for something, anything, that could help him. He then noticed an orange crate. He sent a distress signal to his teammates via a wristwatch that came with his suit, and rushed for the crate. Meanwhile, the other three met with each other by the spawnpoint.

"Did ya find anything?" asked Diana.

"Nope," said Agent 2.

"Nothing!" said Agent 1, "It's annoying."

"What about you Na-" said Diana, "Nathan? Nathan!"

"Where did he go?" asked Agent 2. Suddenly, the distress signal came in.

"A distress signal!" said Agent 1, "It's from Agent 4!"

"That's Nathan!" said Diana, "The watch says he's located that way! Come on, let's hurry!" Diana rushed through her ink at full speed in speed form, and the other two agents did the same.

Back at the platform, now a splatterfield, Nathan broke open the crate to find some armor and canned special weapon, an Inkzooka. With the three Octolings headed right for him, the armor equipped itself when Nathan opened the case and he activated the super weapon.

"Get a load of THIS, Octolings!" yelled Nathan as he fired the tornado-shaped projectiles at the incoming soldiers. The Octolings barely dodged them, and one of them got splatted. Nathan kept firing, but the Inkzooka ran out of power and Nathan was left defenseless once again.

Noticing his gun, Nathan slipped past the Octolings in squid form and picked up his weapon, firing at them again. The two Octolings spread some of their own ink while fighting Nathan, and one Octoling equipped a large weapon. It was a Triple Blaster, capable of firing three shots at once at a single target.

One Octoling closed the container, and the other Octoling fired the Triple Blaster at Nathan with full power. The triple blast hit Nathan in the gut with full force, and it hit so hard that not only did it break the armor right off of him, but it knocked him back quite far. He smashed into the container and went right through the glass, yelping in pain as a few glass shards cut his flesh. If not for the armor, he would've been dead.

Nathan quickly got back up, ignoring the pain. He tried to fight back more, but he was weakened. After just a short time, the Octolings knocked him down. One of them had the tip of their gun right on Nathan's forehead, and his finger on the trigger. Nathan was very still.

"You shoulda stayed home, kid," said the Octoling, "Shouldn't of gone into all this mess. You know we're gonna win."

"You know," said Nathan, "I'm here for a reason. I don't fight for glory." Suddenly, the three other agents arrived and splatted the other Octoling within seconds. The Octoling with his gun towards Nathan was surprised and looked away. Nathan then smacked the gun away and used his own Hero Shot to finish off the Octoling. "I fight for my home and friends."

"Nathan!" said Diana as she rushed over to him, "Are you okay?"

"Ah...more or less."

"Oh my gosh! Nathan, your arm! It's bleeding"

"Huh?" Nathan looked at his arm to see his sleeve torn and a cut along his arm, bleeding. A glass shard also came out of the sleeve. "Oh my-!"

"Oh jeez!" said Agent 1, "We gotta get that patched up!"

"Yeah, tell me about it!" Diana helped Nathan up and the team returned to HQ, leaving without a sign of the boss key.


	8. Chapter 8: Nightfall

Returning to HQ quickly, Smith tended to Nathan's left arm where the wound was. It thankfully wasn't as bad as it seemed to be, and was patched up simply with a gauze bandage, saying that it shouldn't take long to heal. Since the Hero Suit was long sleeved, the bandage was covered. After a few hours of resting and recovering, Cuttlefish called the group to the main base.

"Okay," said Cuttlefish, "Sooo no progress today, huh?"

"Nothing but a few bruises and cuts," said Nathan.

"Be thankful the squids have regeneration abilities," said Smith

"We do?" said Agent 2.

"Kinda. It's sort of strong, but it should help his cut heal within only a few days. Since it's just a medium-sized cut, it should take only around 2 to 4 days."

"That's a relief," said Diana.

"Yeah. Anyway, did we find anything at all during that last mission?"

"Nope," said Agent 1.

"Ca- I mean, Agent 1..." said Agent 2, "...is right. We didn't see ANYTHING."

"I did," said Nathan.

"Huh? You did?!" said Diana.

"Yeah. Remember that container, Diana?"

"Yeah?"

"The yellow ink vanished, as it normally should. I found some interesting things in it."

"Like...what?"

"Tubes. They were like...ducts or something. One of 'em was big, and connected to the bottom. It was like...something for ventilation or something like that? I don't know. The others were connected to the bottom too, but were inside instead of outside.

"What?" said Cuttlefish.

"I think I know what he's talking about," said Smith as he used a remote to put a picture of the container on the supercomputer screen. "Is that it?"

"...How did you-?"

"I explored the area a bit after I patched you up. I took this picture while exploring, and I found another one, too." He then had another picture of the other container, the one Nathan was smashed into, placed onto the screen. Both were cropped to fit the screen.

"I encountered both of those," said Nathan, "That second one over there, I was smashed into that one. The shard that caused my cut must've been from that."

"They rammed you into it?!" said Diana in horror.

"No, they BLASTED me into it. Those Octolings had a Triple Blaster on 'em. They fired at me, and the knockback forced me back, and then...'CRASH!' I was thrown into that thing."

"Ouch!" said Agent 2.

"Yeah."

"At least you're okay!" said Agent 1.

"At least."

"Well anyway," said Smith, "I've been examining these containers. The tubes appear to be used for ventilation, but then I looked around and found this." Smith took a bag and took out a rolled up blueprints sheet."

"Blueprints?" said Nathan as Smith handed it to him.

"Yep. Found 'em in a crate hidden under the big platform."

"Hmm..." Nathan examined the blueprints, "It's some kind of containment thing. It's a glass cell, built to house Inklings according to this."

"So what are the tubes for?" Diana asked.

"Um...aha! They ARE for ventilation. The big tube is retractable, and in the event their is no 'fresh' air somewhere, like on a moving ship on a large box or other containment unit, it is connected to an oxygen tank or something like that."

"Okay, and the smaller tubes?"

"I don't know why they did it like this, but the big tube bring the air into this small box-like thing on the bottom. The small tubes have multiple holes in them, and that's how the air gets inside."

"Octarian technology is weird..." said Agent 2.

"Well...that solves that problem," said Agent 1, "But we STILL don't know why they're capturing Inklings!"

"Ugh! I know!" said Nathan, "This is getting too complicated...We need to search more, maybe defeating the bosses in the boss kettles will shed some light."

"Perhaps," said Smith, "But we should wait 'til tomorrow to do that. It's getting dark out. If you get lost on your way to the bedrooms, remember that there's a map of the entire HQ programmed in your wristwatches."

"Okay," said Diana, "But...what's their actual name? What are watches called?"

"I think I'm gonna call it the Hero Watch. How does that sound?"

"Sounds fine to me," said Nathan.

"I like it!" said Agent 1.

"Hey," said Diana, "Who are you two, anyway?"

"You already know we're Age-"

"No, you're REAL names. I'm getting tired of calling you by your codenames."

"Oh! Uh- Umm..." said Agent 1.

"Oh hey, look at the time!" said Agent 2, "Time to go to bed, let's go!" Agent 2 grabbed Agent 1 and headed out of the base room.

"What's with them?" Diana asked, to Cuttlefish especially.  
"I dunno," said Cuttlefish, "Even though they're my granddaughters, I don't know everything about them...heh heh. I guess they just don't want to reveal their identities right now? Sometimes I just can't understand those two."

Nathan was silent, but he felt like he knew who they could be. "Okay...Let's just head back." Nathan and Diana followed their maps on their Hero Watches to the hallway with the three doors to the bedrooms.

"The one to the far left is yours," said Smith as he entered his lab across from the bedroom doors.

"Wait...what?!" said Diana, blushing.

"What?" said Smith.

"We have to...share a bedroom?!"

"There are changing rooms over there. No need to worry about...uh...you know. Things...And the bedrooms are for when you're staying at the HQ, it's not your new home." Smith closed his room door. Nathan and Diana looked at each other.

"This is gonna be weird..." said Nathan.

"Let's just...change into our pajamas one at a time..."

"We didn't bring anything, though...what do we-"

"There's sleep gear, ya know!" Smith interrupted, talking from behind his door, "Cuttlefish washed 'em already, so they're good. They're in the changing rooms."

"Okay..." Nathan said to himself as Diana facepalmed.

"I'm just gonna change..."  
"You may do that..."

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

In a large, sandy area, almost a desert, close to Octo Valley, Nero's army had constructed a large camp. The Airship was parked right on the camp's edge, and there were multiple tents and temporary homes all over the place, with Octolings talking to each other and hanging out.

Abigail, being part of Nero's army, was also in the camp. She was in her large tent, experimenting with weapon parts, trying to build a new weapon from the parts. Her tent was yellow, and had many lanterns throughout. The was a portable workstation placed by a wall, with a mattress close to it.

Abigail, or Abby as she was nicknamed, liked to tinker around with weapons and other gear to create new weapons or gear out of them. She was especially interested in making weapons for a certain cause, one that no one else knew. Another Octoling suddenly stepped into Abigail's tent.

"Abigail?" she said.

"AH! Wha-" said Abby, "Oy! Edith, PLEASE don't do that, especially when I'm working!"

"Sorry about that," said Edith, "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you since your argument with Captain Nero."

"Weapon experimenting, as usual."

"...What's this project?"

"I...don't know, actually. I'm planning on making it an enhanced version of the Inkling weapon called the Splattershot. I'm planning on calling it the Octoshot. But uh...I still need to work on a few...kinks. It's uh...unstable at the moment."

"I see. I'm glad you're on our side. You're the best weapon maker in the Octarian army!"

"...Yeah, I guess."

"You guess? What do you mean you guess?"

"Nothing...important. To you, anyway."

"Abby, I've known you since childhood. If there's ANYTHING you have on your mind, just say it!"

"No. It's best you don't know this one."

"...Wha- You sick or something?"

"What?! No! I'm fine! Just uh...err...stressed, let's say."

"Okay...I'm leaving now."

"Bye!"

"See ya!" Edith said as she exited the tent. Once she knew Edith was gone, she took out some blueprints for many weapons used in the Great Turf War by the Inklings. She had found them while out on her quests looking for parts and materials she could use to build. She lay out one of blueprint on her desk and examined it.

Abby read the blueprint's label, "Anti-Octopus Weapon Blueprints: Aerospray RG." She then looked at her unfinished Octoshot. "Hmm...why make a normal weapon using just blueprints..." She grabbed her Octoshot. "When you can make a customized version of that weapon!" Abby then went to work to build a new custom weapon.


	9. Chapter 9: The Second Kettle

Diana tossed and turned in her bed throughout the night in her sleep. She was having trouble having a good night sleep, as nightmares of her past haunted her. This happened every once in a while, usually after a stressful day. Her eyes were shut very tight, and her hands clutching the sheets of her bed.

"Diana?" said a voice. Diana's eyes sprang open.

"Ah! No! Wha- Huh?" said Diana. She looked to the side of her bed to see Nathan, already up.

"You had the nightmares again, did you?" he said.

"...Yeah..."

"Don't worry, they'll go away soon."

"I hope...but I still, I'll never forget that day..."

"Just don't think about it, okay. The more you think of something bad, the worse it'll get."

"Is that why you don't have nightmares about it?"

"I guess."

"Oh...well, at least it's a new day." Diana said as she got out of bed, "I'll let it pass, it's not important anymore."

"Yeah, it's gonna be a big day. Who knows what we'll find today." The two then got into their Hero Suits and headed to the main base after having breakfast. The two met up with Agents 1 and 2, who were looking at Hero Suit blueprints on one of the base's computers.

"What are you doing?" asked Nathan.

"Huh?" said Agent 1, "Oh! We're looking at the Hero Suit blueprints. This software lets us create new suits, gear, weapons, etc. It's what Smith used to build the Hero Shot, and the Hero Suit."

"Hey!" said Smith as he entered the room, "What are you doing?"

"Just virtually making stuff," said Agent 2.

"Like...?"

"I dunno. We're not saving or actually building anything, we're just playing with the software is all."

"Just don't save, okay?"

"Okay," said Agent 1 as she turned off the software. "Hey, where's Gramps?"

"Right here!" said Cuttlefish as he entered the room, "How did everyone sleep?"

"Alright," said Nathan.

"I prefer home," said Diana, "But it was fine tonight."

"I see. You don't have to sleep here, ya know," said Smith, "If you prefer to sleep in your own home, you can do that, you just have to wake up kinda early to get here. That's why we have bedrooms, just in case."

"Oh, I see," said Nathan, "I didn't know we had that option. Thank you, actually!"

"No problem, bucko!" said Cuttlefish, "I want my agents to be comfortable regardless of the circumstances."

"Anyway," said Smith, "Is it okay if we go over some of the things I've been working on recently?"

"Sure!" said Agent 1.

"I don't mind," said Diana.

"Alright," said Smith as he put a map of the area on the supercomputer screen, "I've located the other two kettles. I have no idea which one the key is in, though. But this one to the left has a strange signal coming from it. I think something important may be in the dome it leads to."

"Hmm?"

"Agents 1 and 2," said Cuttlefish, "you two are staying here. I need you to help me design some new weapons. Okay?"

"Sounds good to me!" said Callie, "I can finally use this software to it's full extent now!"

"Oy..." Agent 2 thought.

"Smith, you're gonna be the support for these two, okay?" said Cuttlefish.

"What?" Smith said in confusion.

"You're staying here, and provided them advice from the headsets. Like I do."

"Oh, I see."

"Are you okay with that, Agents 4 and 5? You two are our newest agents, but seeing how Nathan managed to defeat four of six Octolings and how both of you beat down three Octolings, I figure you'll be good for this mission."

Nathan and Diana looked at each other and nodded before Nathan said, "Fine with us."

"Alright! Then let's go get them Octojerks!"

Nathan and Diana headed out of HQ and headed for where the second kettle was hidden. Using the map layout from their Hero Watches, they discovered it's location and revealed it by spraying ink on it. Nathan and Diana entered the kettle, and made their way down into the dome. When they got there, however, it was empty, with only one long platform, like bridge, from side of the dome to the other.

"What?" said Diana, "A bridge that leads to nowhere..."

"Try looking down," said Nathan. The two looked over the edge of the bridge to see multiple platforms below it, but the highest one was a far distance away. "See."

"Do we have to JUMP?!"

"It's gonna be at least a 64-foot drop...but we don't have a choice."

"What do we do?"

"Let's convert to the same color...Yellow, perhaps?"

"Sure, why not!" The two converted to yellow.

"Now do you trust me?"

"Of course I d-"

"Then jump!" said Nathan as he grabbed Diana's arm and the two jumped off.

"No! I'm not!" Nathan fired some yellow ink below his and Diana's feet "Morph into a squid and we'll be fine!" Nathan and Diana turned into squids and landed in the yellow ink puddle, making a big ink splash upon landing. The two emerged in humanoid form, unharmed.

"Wha-"

"Told you we'd be fine!"

"Ohh...I get it! It's like a...cushion almost...kinda..."

"Yeah," Nathan said, "I heard X has done that multiple times to get out of trouble when falling from great heights."

"X? As in Champion X?"

"Yep."

"I see...good to know!" Nathan and Diana continued to search, using their Hero Watches to pinpoint where the strange signal was coming from. "That way!" said Diana, pointing to the north. The area was composed of multiple steel platforms. There were multiple levels of platforms, about five of them. The first level was the highest and also the biggest, with the greatest number of platforms.

Most of the platforms had Octarians guarding them, which Nathan and Diana easily and quickly dispatched. Some of the platforms had to be moved with switches or some other type of mechanism. The two eventually made it to a platform leading to the second level below, but it was locked in place with a five-number code.

"Ugh...this whole place is a damn puzzle," said Nathan.

"I'm good with puzzles," said Diana, "I think I can figure this out...There's always clues around these places..." Diana looked around and spotted a bunch of signs clustered together on a wall. She examined it and found that throughout all of the signs on that wall, there were only five numbers able to be spotted.

"I found something! There are only five numbers in the big ol' cluster of signs and stuff. From left to right, it's...5, 2, 9, um...1, and 4! Try entering that into the keyboard." Diana rushed back to Nathan as he entered the code, 52914, into the keyboard. Sure enough, the code was right and the platform was moving freely.

"Ha ha! Nice!" said Nathan, smiling at Diana as they rode the platforms downwards. They ended up going past the second level and arrived at the third, much to their surprise.

"There's Octolings ahead!" said Smith over headset, "Two of 'em! They're at the next level, so be prepared for a fight when you get there!"

"Get it, Smith!" said Nathan as he equipped his Hero Shot. The two walked down the path, looking for the Octolings that Smith had detected. They looked at their Hero Watches and pinpointed their location, it was a platform on the fourth level above whatever was causing the strange signal on the fifth.

"Okay..." said Diana, "The signal is coming from the only platform on the fifth level, and I think those two Octolings are guarding it."

"Sounds like it might be the case," Nathan said.

"Hey! One of the Octolings just moved according to the watch!"

"Huh?"

"I'll take care of 'em! You try taking another route past 'em and find out what that signal is!"

"Are you sure you can handle both of 'em by yourself? I could barely handle those three back in Inkopolis."

"Hey, if I can't, I'll send ya a signal okay? Go!"

"Got it!" Nathan said as he headed for a longer alternate route that also lead to the fifth level, while Diana headed for the two Octolings on the platform. She jumped right off the pathway and landed right in front of them. Being as bold as she was, she made herself known to them, her face showing that she meant business and was ready for action. The two Octolings, who turned out to be Abigail and Edith, were surprised by this.

"Hold it right there, Inkling!" yelled Edith, "Hands in the air! You ain't allowed here!"

"..." Abigail was silent, but aimed at Diana with a confused look on her face.

"Either run home or be a part of our Inkling collection!"

That statement reminded Diana of an important thing: she still didn't know why Inklings were being held captive. "Why are you taking Inklings?!" Diana scolded, "What's with the kidnappings, and what do you intend to do with us?!"

"That is classified information!" yelled Edith, aiming her weapon at Diana's head, "Abigail, give it to her!"

"Uh...yeah," said Abby as she and Edith opened fire at Diana.

"Bring it, Octojerks!" said Diana as she charged into battle.


	10. Chapter 10: Onslaught

Diana dodged the incoming ink blasts of the Octolings as she charged at them. She then made a sharp left and rammed into Abigail, elbowing her in the gut. Edith, now angered, charged at Diana, who fired at her. Edith dodged tackled Diana, pinning her to the ground. Abigail did nothing but watch.

"You little squid shit!" Edith scolded, "I'm gonna tear you apart for that!"

"I'll tear YOU apart for tackling me like THAT!" Diana scolded back and she threw Edith off of her and stood back up. Edith quickly recovered and the two continued to fight each other. Abigail simply watched at first, but then she got up and aimed her gun at Diana and fired, joining the fray once again.

Meanwhile, Nathan was heading down the alternate route as he was advised to. Rushing to see what the signal was, he stayed alert in case something unexpected occurred suddenly. The path was long and twisted, and many parts of it looked very fragile. He hurried, but was very cautious.

He eventually reached an area where the ground seemed sturdy. Nathan had been running nearly nonstop for the past few minutes, and decided to rest even though he was only a little tired. Being a roller user, he had quite a bit of strength and stamina, but he didn't want to overexert himself.

Diana and the two Octolings were still locked in combat, with neither side able to beat the other. Diana and Edith were locked in combat most, while Abby assisted Edith but she didn't have much of an effect otherwise. Edith, with her horrible temper, snapped after many minutes of fighting. She dropped her weapon and charged at Diana, tackling her and pinning her to the ground once again, causing Diana to lose grip of her weapon and dropping it.

Diana tried throwing Edith off of her, but Edith's gripped was much tighter this time, and Diana couldn't even move her or her own body. Edith, realizing she had an advantage, punched Diana in the face a few times before standing up. She quickly and fiercely stomped her foot on Diana's chest.

"GWAK!" yelled Diana, "Get...off me!" Diana could hardly breathe with Edith pushing all her weight on her. She desperately tried to move the feet away, but to no avail.

"Running short on breath, are you?" Edith taunted, "If only you had your weapon you could fight back! Didn't ya see the kelp on my head? I'm an Elite! Far stronger than the others! You never stood a chance!"

"Urgh..." Diana then realized she was in a puddle of her own ink, much to her surprise. Realizing that she had a chance to escape, she grinned at Edith.

"Huh...we have...our ways of...getting out...of these situations!" Diana suddenly turned into squid form, submerging into the puddle and disappearing.

"Huh?!" Edith looked around. "Abby! Get that Triple Blaster ready!"

"Uh...are you sure?" said Abigail.

"Of course I'm-" Suddenly, Diana sprang up from behind Edith and punched her in the back of the head, knocking her down. Breathing heavily, she grabbed her gun and pointed it at Edith. Abigail immediately equipped the Triple Blaster, but hesitated.

"Inklings will win, Octoling," said Diana, "There's no doubt about it."

"Really?" said Edith, "Abby, hurry up!" Abigail warmed up the weapon, but as it was reaching full charge, she turned her head away. Both Diana and Edith caught sight of this, but didn't focus too much on it. To Edith, Abby showed a face of discomfort around the weapon. But to Diana, Abby's face seemed to show pity.

The Triple Blaster fired, its shot traveling at an incredible speed. But because she had time to react before the weapon fired, unlike Nathan did when he encountered the weapon, Diana ducked and dodged the blast. Once it went past her, it went downwards. The triple blast headed straight for the platform Nathan was standing on.

Nathan noticed the incoming blast, and just as he began to retreat, the triple blast hit the edge of the platform with such force that the entire platform broke in half. The knockback also took effect, and Nathan was effectively thrown off the platform by the force of the blow and plummeted downwards towards the rocky bottom of the dome.

Falling at great speed, Nathan quickly grabbed his Hero Shot. He tried firing, but it was jammed. He hit it a few times, and the gun worked again. He fired at the ground, creating a puddle of ink for him to land in. "This may hurt a little bit..." Nathan said to himself as he turned into squid form and plummeted into the ink puddle, making a very large ink splash. He did not emerge.

Diana didn't notice Nathan, as she was too focused on the two Octolings. She didn't even hear the impact of the platform breaking. She was distracted by Abby, however, and looked at her. Edith took this as an opportunity and punched Diana in the gut and then in the face, knocking her down. Completely winded by the blows, she lay there, defeated. Edith sighed.

"Let's go," she said, "She's not worth taking in her current state." Edith pressed a button on a small remote. A small aircraft appeared and Edith hoped inside. Diana looked at her watch to see that the aircraft was the signal the team had had pinpointed.

Abigail looked at Diana before entering the aircraft. With a look of pity on her face, she muttered in a voice too soft for Diana or Edith to hear, "Forgive me..." She then entered the aircraft and it took off, exiting through a large passageway in the roof of the dome. Diana, weakened, tried to get up. She could only get to her knees until she tasted blood in her mouth.

She then coughed up blood for a few moments, much to her shock and horror. she had many injuries, but none of them broke her skin. She was covered in mostly major bruises. But the blows had done some interior damage, but not too major thankfully. But the blood from her mouth concerned her to point where she was shaking in fear. She collapsed, laying there.

"Diana?!" said Smith over the headset, "Diana?! Do you read me?!"

"Wh-Wha?" Diana said.

"Are you alright?"

"No! I'm...not!" She then coughed a bit, but thankfully there was no blood this time.

"Don't worry, I'm heading over!"

"Thanks..." Diana lay there, closing her eyes as she passed out.

Meanwhile, Nathan finally emerged from the ink puddle he created in human form. He had a few bruises, but nothing too major. He was able to walk away pretty much unharmed. After stretching his legs and arms for a bit, he tried to contact Diana was his headset and Hero Watch.

"Diana, this is Nathan. Do you read?" he said. No response. "D-Diana? Hello?!" Again, no response. He began to question if his gear was working properly. "Is this thing working?" He tapped his watch and headset a bit, and realized his gear was fine. He tried again. "Diana! Do you read?!" No response once again.

"Oh no..." Nathan thought. He knew something was very wrong. "What happened to her?!" He then tried once more, this time yelling, "DIANA! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" The loud voice actually woke up Diana from her sleep, and hearing Nathan's voice, a tear dropped from her eye.

"N-Nath-...Nathan?" she said softly. Nathan realized from the tone of her voice that she wasn't in good condition at all.

"Diana! Wh-What happened!?"

"I-I lost..."

"What's your condition?"

"In pain...a lot of it!...Ow!" Diana tried to get up, but her stomach and chest were consumed in pain, but it was notably not as it was before. But it still hurt a lot. "It hurts!"

"Don't worry! I'll find I way to get to ya!"

"What do you mean?"

"I fell off the platforms."

"WHA- Ah!"

"Take it easy! I'll be right there, ya hear?" Nathan frantically looked around for something that could help him. He spotted a box and ran over to it. Opening it, he found a bunch of gliders inside it that were similar to wings. They were labeled "Octogliders" and were made of some kind of paper-like material. "Hmm..."

Nathan then noticed a large circular grate in the ground, about 50 feet in diameter. He put his hand over it to feel a strong air current. It wasn't enough to propel an Inkling upwards, however. Nathan then had the idea to use the Octoglider to get up to Diana.

He equipped the glider, placing it on his back. They were even retractable. Extending them, they looked with brown, paper wings. Nathan jumped into the air current, and he ascended upwards at impressive speed. "Hey! It works!" said Nathan as he rode the air current upwards. Reaching a point were he could excess the fourth floor, he flew out of the current and safely glided downwards. He then spotted Diana.

"Diana!" he yelled. He dove downwards and landed safely by Diana. "Diana!" he retracted the glider and rushed to her side.

"Nathan..." Diana said.

"It's okay, I'm right here!" On is knees, he held Diana in his arms. "You're going to be alright."

"How...How did you...get up here..."

"This glider here. I can glide in the air with it, now. I used an air current to get up here. They're like wings in a way, and they can even move like them. But enough about that! What did they do to you?!"

"They hurt me real bad...well, one of 'em did. The other was...barely doing anything. When she fired a Triple Blaster at me...ow...she looked away with a face that showed...pity."

"Pity?" Nathan was surprised.

"She had that same face when she left, too...She said something, but it was too soft for me to hear."

"Diana! Nathan!" yelled a voice. it was Smith, arriving with armor and a medical kit.

"Smith!" Nathan said, "How'd you know-"

"I signaled him," said Diana.

"She's definitely in bad condition," said Smith.

"Yeah, that's obvious!" said Nathan.

"We need to bring her back to base."

Nathan looked to see that the air current lead into an opening in the top of the dome, the passageway that the two Octoling used to escape. "She should go back and recover...But I don't think I'm finished here yet."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look. See that opening. It's just above the air current. It's pretty strong, so I'll bet I can use this new glider to get up there."

"The two Octolings...used an aircraft to escape. The aircraft was what caused the signal...that we found. They flew right into that passageway."

"...Then I'm really going up there!" said Nathan, "There could be something up there...Diana, I'm sorry that I wasn't-"

"It's okay...I know...I'll be fine. I'll be all patched up soon. I promise I won't die on you during this quest, okay?'

"...I won't die on you either. Just be careful, ya hear?"

"I will. Now go find out what's up there!"

"Yeah. Smith, escort her to the base."

"I will," said Smith.

"Diana...I'll...I'll see you later. Just take it easy, okay? Don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

"...Right...Stay fresh."

"You too." Nathan jumped from the platform and extended his glider, heading into the air current. The current blasted him upwards into the passageway, and Nathan began his ascent.


	11. Chapter 11: Great Ascent

Riding the air current as impressive speed, Nathan ascended upwards. The air current mechanism was designed to last to whole way up without dieing down, and Nathan could see that it did just as it was designed to do. Nathan realized that the passageway was very much like a giant air vent, and figured that the Octarians used the gliders to ride the vent upwards in the event that they didn't have an aircraft.

Nathan spotted the words "Ultra Vent" printed on signs throughout on his way up, and realized that there were also platforms attached to the walls, which lead to other areas, likely other domes. Nathan ignored these however, and continued towards the top.

He realized that the Octarians used this vent to get to certain location quickly, and figured that they may even have more. Nathan was impressed by the Ultra Vent, but was truly surprised by how it allowed him to fly upwards. He had never seen anything like it before.

"I know squids aren't supposed to fly," Nathan thought to himself, "but I think I'm the first one who can!" Just after he finished saying this, he noticed medium-sized debris falling from above. "Whoa!" Nathan had to maneuver his way past the debris in order to ensure a safe passage. It came around seemingly at random, and some caught him by surprise. He had to be very quick in order to move out of the way for some of them. "What in the name of-?!"

As Nathan got closer to the top, he noticed the amount of debris decreased, but the debris got bigger. Some where even on fire. Did some Octarians notice him and were throwing stuff down to slow him down? Or was the vent simply falling apart for some reason?

Regardless, Nathan dodged the falling debris as much as he could. The combination of flying upwards at high speeds and dodging both wooden beams and debris made for a stressful flight. Nathan eventually got hit by a small but hard piece of debris, likely rock. Noticing a platform on the wall, he decided to see if it caused any damage. He retracted his wings, thus no longer affected by the air current. He slowed down and stopped right above the platform and landed on it safely.

"Damn rocks..." Removing the top of his suit, he realized that the rock had hit him right on his right shoulder, and there was a large bruise. His shoulder hurt, but Nathan could bear it. "Glad I was wearing that suit...and this undershirt." Nathan sighed and put the uniform shirt back on. His then noticed the platform was attached to a path around the edge of the vent. Nathan decided to follow it.

Going upwards, the path lead to a doorway that lead into an unknown location. Because the path floor was a grate, Nathan had to be careful not to turn into a squid. Reaching the doorway, he looked through it's tiny window to see two Octolings, Edith and Abby, in semi-large small room. He then placed his ear by the door and listened.

"Heh heh, she was weak!" said Edith, "Never stood a chance."

"Uh...yeah, she didn't," said Abigail.

"Hey, what's up with ya? You ain't empathy or pity for the Inklings, are ya?"

"Wh-What? N-No! Of...course not..."

"Good. We need them for...you know what."

"Edith, are you sure Nero hasn't gone insane?"

"Well I...wait what?"

"He's been...more aggressive lately, ever since we started taking Inklings."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well...you know what happens when he gets angry."

"You've been acting weird lately, Abigail. Ever since we learned about the Great Turf War and how the sea levels caused it, you've been more...I don't know the word...quiet."

"...I just think...don't ya think...uhh..."

"Oh I see. You think that our loss was not meant to be!

"Uh...well...actually-"

"That's my sis!" said Edith as he she gave Abby a noogie.

"Hey, hey! Stop that!" Abigail broke free of Edith's grasp. "Dammit, Edith, you know I hate that!"

"Ha ha! Sorry! Now c'mon! Let's get back to camp."

"I'll meet you there. I'm gonna work on this weapon here."

"Okay, see ya!" Edith was about the open the door and leave. Nathan silently panicked, but then quickly went into squid form, going through the grate. He then quickly grabbed the grate once he was below it. He knew it wasn't the best way to hide, as if Edith looked down or step on his fingers, he would be discovered. But it was pretty much his only option.

When Edith opened the door, Nathan held his breath. Thankfully, Edith didn't look down or step on his fingers, she simply equipped her Octoglider and flew upwards. Nathan sighed in relief as he climbed back up onto the platform, and looked through the window again to see Abby working on a new weapon.

"Just place that here...and put this piece in here..." she said to herself, "And...there! Finished!" She held what appeared to be a platinum Aerospray weapon. "The Aerospray XG...finally ready!" She then looked at the blueprints of another weapon, one much larger and much more powerful. "Now what am I gonna do about this..."

Nathan was very confused. Why was that Octoling acting like that? Why was she looking at blueprints of such a massive-looking weapon but simply wondering about it? Rather then try to contribute to it or even build it herself? But then another question came to mind: What were they using the captured Inklings for? Nathan did not focus on these questions. Returning to what he had been doing prior, he extended his glider and flew upwards once again.

This time, the amount of debris seemed to increase. Most of them were giant rocks now, and sometimes Nathan spotted entire chunks of steel raining down. "Where the hell is all this debris coming from?!" Nathan soon found the answer when he saw the walls of the higher portion of the Ultra Vent to be falling apart or completely removed. Behind the steel walls were rocks and soil, and some of the rock fell from areas where the walls were removed.

Once Nathan got past the areas of the wall that were damaged or destroyed, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! The debris should stop now..." Surely enough. it did. Nathan saw light, and realized he was close to the end of the Ultra Vent. He rushed out of the vent and found himself in a massive building above ground. It was empty, so no Octarians noticed him.

Nathan gliding through the air for a while and safely landed on the floor. He looked around to see that the building seemed to be a parking lot for vehicles, including the aircraft that belonged to Edith and Abigail. He walked up to the aircraft and examined it. It looked like a fighter jet, able to hold two people, and it was rather small for its type. It was colored dark metallic gray, almost black. Two Splatling guns were placed by the wings, but not on them. Nathan noticed the guns had tubes attached to their ink tanks, which lead into the aircraft.

"Nathan to HQ, do you read?" he said, contacting HQ.

"We hear ya, Nathan!" answered Agent 1.

"How are you holding up?" asked Smith, "Have you finished your ascent up the vent?"

"Yeah," said Nathan, "Wait a minute...Diana! How's Diana?"

"She's recovering nicely. She's resting right now on the medical room. She'll be fine...which is actually very surprising!"

"Oh phew...I was worried about her!"

"Nothing to worry about, sport! Anyway, where are you?"

"The Ultra Vent lead to here. It's like a...warehouse or parking lot or something. There's a bunch of vehicles in here."

"Like what?"

"I see some...trucks, aircraft, and a few boats even. I'm examining an aircraft right now."

"Alright, I'll leave you to it, then!"

"Got it. Oh, and uh...tell Diana I said 'hi', okay?"

"I will."

"Thanks, Smith." Nathan ended the call. He climbed on top of the aircraft he was examining. He realized the tubes of the guns were connected to something else inside the aircraft. Noticing what looked like a large hatch door. He tried to open it, but to no avail. He looked around, but saw no clues. Forgetting about the aircraft, he headed for a doorway and exited the building to explore whatever was outside.


	12. Chapter 12: The Octoling Camp

Nathan was surprised to see what was outside. It was an entire Octoling Camp, with nearly 200 tents and a few vehicles riding around it. But what really caught his eye was the all too familiar Octarian Airship, parked right next to the camp out in the open. It was obvious why it wasn't parked in the warehouse parking lot, it was much too big. There was a very tall tower in the center that looked almost like a windowless apartment building.

Nathan hid behind a large crate and did some recon. He noticed that several Octolings were simply talking to each other or hanging out doing nothing. But others were working, most of them carrying those empty containers that Nathan knew were used to handle Inklings.

"This is Agent 4," he said through his headset to HQ, "I've found an Octoling Camp."

"A camp? Above ground?" answered Cuttlefish, "Well I'll be!"

"Yeah. If they need a whole camp above ground, then that means they might launch an attack on Inkopolis soon. Or they need to-" Suddenly, Nathan noticed something: two Octolings restraining an Inkling boy, dragging him towards the large tower. "Whoa! Turn the headset's camera on!"

Cuttlefish turned on the camera to see what was going on. "They've got an Inkling!"

"What?!" said Agent 1 as she and Agent 2 ran up to the screen as well.

"What are they doing?!" asked Agent 2.

"I don't know," said Nathan, "I'm watching them closely, though." Nathan continued to examine the situation, with the call still active.

"Let go of me!" the boy yelled, kicking and squirming, "Please!"

"Shut him up!" said one of the Octolings.

"Yeah, yeah," said the other as he slammed the Inkling in the side of the head with a nearby metal rod, knocking the boy out cold. Nathan's eyes widened. Agent 1 gasped.

"I've never seen an Octarian do that before!" she said in surprise.

"Me neither!" said Cuttlefish, "And I was in the Great Turf War against 'em!"

"Hmm..." Nathan said as he watched the two Octolings drag the Inkling boy to a container and threw him inside. Closing the container, they transported it to a nearby truck.

"Bring him to the Tower with the other ones." an Octoling said to the truck driver as he drove off.

"Did you hear that?!" said Nathan, "He said bring him to the Tower with the OTHER ONES!"

"That tower where they're holding Inklings!" said Agent 1.

"If we can break into it..." said Agent 2, "We can finally figure out what's going on!"

"My thoughts exactly," Nathan said, "But it's likely very heavy guarded, and I can't handle that alone. I'll do some recon. Nathan out." He then moved to behind another wall and spotted more trucks carrying containers. Most were empty, but two or three had Inklings in them.

"Damn..." Nathan continued his reconnaissance, moving from place and trying his best not to get caught. He knew that if he did get caught, he would have to deal with likely everyone in the camp and would be vastly outnumbered at least 1 to 200. He then spotted Abigail and Edith yet again.

"What are those two doing now?" said Nathan as he got closer to the two. Examining a bit closer, he noticed Edith had an annoyed look on her face.

"Abby," said Edith, "You haven't done anything since we beat up that girl."

"I built the Aerospray XG!" Abigail replied.

"Aside from that! You've been...Are you sure you're not feelin' any pity?"

"Y-Yes! I'm sure!"

"Oy...you keep saying that! I'm starting to think otherwise."

"Would it be bad if I was?"

"Pretty much! We need those Inklings for...ya know what!"

"Why do you keep saying "you know what"?! Can't you just say-"

"Sis! Nero would kill us! He said not to say the plan out loud!"

"You know what, I don't wanna argue with you, Edith! And the reason I've been so quiet: Don't you think you took that beating a bit too far back there?"

"Ah, she'll be fine. The next time we'll do some serious damage."

"Really?! Don't we need to keep them in good condition?!"

"Abby, calm down! That orange Inkling was nothing. We'll use the other Inklings to help deal with her and her friend soon."

"That's all I needed to hear," Nathan silently. He then rushed out and fired at Edith and Abigail. Edith let out a roar of pure rage.

"Oh shit! THAT'S IT!" Edith pulled out her Octoshot, "ABBY! Sound the alarm!"

"Okay!" said Abigail as she rushed away with an angry look on her face. "I'll set the alarm all right!"

"As for you, Inkling! I don't wanna see you here!"

"You're the one who beat Diana, were you?" said Nathan.

"The one with the yellow eyes. The one who stupidly charged at us?! THE ONE WHO I REGRET LEAVING?! I should've taken her in...But no! I didn't!"

"I want answers! Why are you taking Inklings?! What is it that you want with us?!"

"I...WON'T TELL YOU!" Edith charged at Nathan, who shot Edith in the face with ink. Temporarily blinded, Edith stopped. Nathan quickly got behind her and kicked her in the back. Wiping the ink off her face, she immediately returned to battle. "I'll kill ya, ink boy!" She yelled and the two continued to brawl.

Meanwhile, back at HQ, Diana was recovering from her injuries. She was most surprised by the fact that they weren't as bad as they seemed. She thanked squids' ability to regenerate, as she was already feeling better. She could walk and run, but not fight. Risking more injury would be a bad idea.

She was upset that she couldn't help Nathan with his mission. She blamed herself, however, as she had decided to fight the two Octolings alone. Thinking back, she remembered that only the elite one, Edith, had been fighting her. The other barely contributed to the battle except for the Triple Blaster.

Diana was stuck in a vortex of guilt and sadness. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't help Nathan until the pain healed up a bit more, which to her meant she was useless until then. The door suddenly opened and Agent 1 stepped in.

"You okay, Agent 5?" she asked.

"Yeah...but please call me Diana," she replied.

"Sorry."

"It's cool."

"What are you doing all alone in here? You haven't said a word since you got back!"

"I just feel like what I did was stupid. I should've had Nathan help me."

"Don't feel like that! We all make mistakes. Heh, I sometimes accidentally splat innocent bystanders in Turf War!"

"Sure...'accidentally'..." said Agent 2, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did you come from?" said Diana.

"I was just walking by and then I heard THAT." She walked away.

"Anyway," said Agent 1, "I'm sure Nathan's gonna be fine."

"I'll try to call him,' said Diana, "Just to be sure." Diana put on her headset and contacted Nathan, who was still in the middle of the heated brawl with Edith. "Nathan, you there?"

"Diana?!" Nathan responded, "Why are you-"

"Just making sure you're okay, is all."

"Uhh...let's say I've got my hands f-" Edith suddenly delivered a surprise uppercut to Nathan's face. The devastating blow somehow blew the headset right off Nathan's head as he was launched upwards. He landed hard on his back. Edith then leaped up in the air to pounce on Nathan's chest as she did to Diana, but Nathan quickly rolled out of the way, evading the attack.

Diana heard static over her headset. "What the-?! Nathan?! NATHAN!?"

"What is it?!" asked Agent 1, "What happened?!"

Diana suddenly stormed out of the room, with Agent 1 following her. "Dammit, Nathan! I shoulda been with you!" she thought to herself. She burst into the main base room with the supercomputer, with Agent 2 on one of the smaller computers. The room was otherwise empty.

"Hey, what's the rush?" said Agent 2.

"Nathan's in trouble!" said Diana as she panicked by the supercomputer, "Oh...which one of these buttons is for the headset cameras?!"

"It's this one!" said Agent 1 as she pushed a blue button with a white circle on it. The supercomputer screen showed the brawl between Nathan and Edith. With the headset on the ground at just the right angle, the three agents saw the battle unfold.

"Nathan!" Diana gasped.

"Holy mackerel!" said Agent 1, "There's in one brutal brawl!"

"What is this, Super Smash Bros?!" said Agent 2.

They watched as Nathan was grabbed by the throat, and heard Edith say, "Once I'm done with you, your little orange friend is next!" She then threw him towards the camera, effectively breaking it and causing the screen to go static. Nathan ignored this and kept fighting, wishing he didn't have to use violence.

Diana's shock turned into boiling rage in a fraction of a second. She growled and rushed for the weapons and armor department.

"Diana, wait!" yelled Agent 1 as she and Agent 2 followed her. Diana busted open the door to the room and looked around. She grabbed a suit, a sturdier version of the Hero Suit with some chest armor and shoulder guards, and equipped it. "Diana, what are you doing?! You haven't fully recovered yet!"

"I know," said Diana, "But forget that! I'm not gonna let that Octoling scum beat up Nathan." She grabbed her E-Liter 3K Scope and rushed back to the base room. "He saved me from being splatted back during that Inkopolis ambush. Now it's my turn to save him!"

"Diana you're gonna get yourself killed!"

"...Then so be it!" Diana activate the elevator. She was so eager to get out that she punched the button. The door closed, and she was off.

"...She's SO dead!" said Agent 2.

"We gotta go after her!" said Agent 1 as she grabbed her weapon. Agent grabbed hers, and the two were off as well.

"What's going-" Smith said as he entered the room, "What the-?" He noticed the camera screens on the supercomputer were static and labeled as Nathan's, and then noticed Diana was gone. "Oh no..."


	13. Chapter 13: Diana's Mercy Mission

Diana rushed into the kettle and charged forward. She fired a charged shot forwards, creating an ink path down the multiple levels of platforms. She raced through them in squid form, using the Swim Speed boosts the suit provided her. Agents 1 and 2 were following her, but lost sight of her as she was using a Ninja Squid ability as well.

"Where did she go?!" said Agent 2.

"There!" yelled Agent 1 as she spotted Diana jumping out of the end of her ink trail and for the edge of the platform. "Diana, stop! You're gonna seriously get hurt!" Diana ignored them and continued rushing for the edge of the lowest platform. Grabbing and equipping an Octoglider that was carelessly left out in the open, she jumped off. Extending the glider and heading into the air current, she darted upwards into the Ultra Vent.

"Oh come on!" said Agent 1.

"How are we gonna-" Agent 2 began to say when a call from Smith came in.

"Agents 1 and 2! What's going on?!" he shouted.

"Diana just busted out! She's after Nathan!"

"Why?"

"Have you seen the supercomputer screen?!"

"Yes, I have but-"

"We're trying to go after her, but she just went up that giant vent!"

"Stop following her, I'll take care of it!" Smith redirected his call to Diana. When she heard the ring, she sighed.

"What do you want?!" she said.

"Diana, have you gone mad?! You're gonna get yourself killed! And it's only the second mission!"

"Screw that! Nathan's in trouble, and I'm not leaving him behind!"

"Wait...are you saying this is all for HIM?!"

"Pretty much! Back in Inkopolis, an Octoling from the ambush was gonna shoot me in the head. If Nathan hadn't been there, I would've been splatted and likely die! But that's not the first time he's saved my life... He's done a lot for me...Now it's my turn to do something for him!"

"...But you're injured!"

"Forget the injuries! I can bare the pain for as long as I need to! An Inkling's LIFE is on the line, Smith! I don't care if I'm hurt or not! We need him if we're gonna finish this mission and finding out what's going on and stopping those Octarians from invading Inkopolis! And to be honest I- err...Nevermind! I'm just gonna get to him before it's too late! Diana out!"

"But w-" Smith started to say before he was cut off.

Diana continued her ascent, ignoring the Octoling that clearly saw her. Some even started chasing after her. "Oh for the love of-" said Diana as she equipped her weapon and started firing at the Octolings while also dodging the debris falling from above.

Meanwhile, Nathan was dealing with his own problems as Edith kept brawling with him.

"You know what," said Nathan, "I've had it with the hand-to-hand combat!" He drew out his weapon and started firing.

"Fine then," said Edith as she too equipped her weapon, "I need to save energy, anyway." The two fired at each other, and ground around them was quickly coated with blue and purple ink. Edith was faster and stronger, being an elite, but Nathan could handle her. He fought and defeated four out of six Octolings just yesterday, after all.

Nathan sneaked through his ink, trying to deliver surprise attacks, but Edith seemed to be able to track down his every movement. He figured it was the ripples in the ink that resulted from swimming in it that exposed him. Edith herself entered her octopus form to try and surprise Nathan, but he spotted her for the same reason: the ripples exposed her.

"I'll kill ya when I'm done with ya, Ink boy!" she said.

"The name's Nathan, for your information!" Nathan scolded back.

Meanwhile, Diana had finished off the last Octoling chasing her and arrived in the Octarian Camp's vehicle lot. Landing, she headed for the door, when she heard something from inside.

"Who's there?!" Diana said as she pointed her weapon around, looking for the source of the sound. She found nothing, and continued, bursting out the front door. She tried to stay as hidden as possible, but also moving fast enough to get to Nathan.

He and Edith were still in heated battle as Diana made her way around the camp, searching for them. Nathan and Edith just couldn't hit each other, both were equally matched. Eventually, Edith's patience ran out and she dropped her weapon, but then realized something: Abby had not returned or even sounded the alarm.

"What's takin' Abby so LONG?!" Edith thought to herself. She quickly forgot about it however, and again charged at Nathan, intending to attack. Nathan fired at her as she charged at him and a few shots hit her but didn't slow her down. She headbutted Nathan in the gut with as much force as she could.

Rather than falling over, Nathan stayed standing, though he was winded by the blow. Nathan was used to shooting ink, not throwing punches or kicks or being physical in general. Deciding to fight back, he threw two punches to the face at Edith. Both connected, but when Nathan tried to punch her a third time, she caught Nathan's fist in her palm. She threw the fist back and followed with a flying kick to the face.

"Can't ya just use ink as a weapon instead of your fists and feet?" Nathan said.

"It's just how I roll!" Edith answered as she performed a flip kick, with her heel connecting to Nathan's jaw, launching him upwards a bit and knocking him down again. Edith then pinned him to the ground, her eyes staring directly into his. "You made a big mistake comin' here, dude! And guess what, we're gonna take Inkopolis, and you'll all be exterminated!"

Edith prepared to deliver more blows to Nathan's face in an attempt to KO him, but she was interrupted when something forceful hit her in the back. Diana had arrived, and had just thrown a Burst Bomb at Edith. She converted her color to blue to make sure she wouldn't harm Nathan.

"Diana?!" Nathan said, surprised.

Edith turned around, only to have another Burst Bomb thrown at her face. Angered, she rushed at Diana, who slammed her in the face with her E-Liter. She was dazed by the hit, but she continued anyway. She swung a bit until she slammed Diana in the face. Nathan got up and slammed Edith in the face with his Hero Shot, knocking her down onto her back. Admitting defeat, she lay there, grinning, having seemed to have calm down.

"Dammit...I thought I'd win that one," she said calmly, "Shame."

"We want answers now!" Nathan scolded, "Why are you taking Inklings? What are you using them for? Why do YOU go so far as to try to beat us violently?"

"Heh! I'm afraid I can't answer those first few questions. I WILL say, however, that we are using those Inklings. We wouldn't just capture 'em for no reason."

"Why?!" yelled Diana.

"I'm not allowed to tell you, I'm afraid."

Diana grabbed her. "Tell us, now! Why are you-"

"Enough!" yelled a voice. Nero approached. "You kids have been having a bit too much fun here. I'm afraid I'll have to put it to an end."

"Nero!" yelled Nathan.

"Well, well...I should of known you'd sneak into our little camp here. And I knew that if you were here, your little friend would be here too." He walked up to the fallen Edith. "Edith, stand up...if you can that is."

"Yes sir." said Edith as she stood up and stood next to Nero, who towered over her.

Nero sighed and then chuckled, "Oh...you stupid Inklings. I know what you want. Both of them."

"Both?!" said Nathan.

"Yes, both. You want to know our plans, and you want this." He held in his hand the Boss Key that lead the two Inklings to the kettle in the first place. They had completely forgotten about it. Nathan and Diana wee wide-eyed.

"The Boss Key!" said Diana, "I forgot about that!"

"Normally, I'd do something to crush your plans. But you two don't seem to be major threats, so I'll give you this one." Nero tossed the key to Nathan, who caught it flawlessly. "If you two can make it past that Great Octoweapon we've prepared, I'll be most surprised. But for now, I'll let you go. But next time, I won't take it so lightly."

"Thanks," said Nathan, "But I'm not done yet! Why are you taking Inklings?!"

Nero chuckled again, "It's a bit early for that, don't you think?"

"Early? EARLY?!" said Diana, "This is only the SECOND MISSION and we're ALREADY getting into all this?! This is insane! You're throwing too much at us!"

"My, my, my! You need to work on your temper...ya little ass."

"Oh you piece of-" yelled Diana as she charged at Nero. He simply delivered a punch to Diana's face, launching her a few feet away.

"That was just a tap. I can't wait to meet again. I promise, it'll be a lot more interesting from here on out. Heh heh heh..." Nero walked away. "C'mon, Edith. We're done here." Edith followed him and they left the scene. Diana got up.

"Oh ow..." she said.

"Are you alright?" said Nathan.

"Never better..."

"Time to head back to HQ. I think we've had enough for one day."

"And to believe all this happened within like...two hours..."

"Yeah..." Nathan then looked at his damaged headset on the ground and picked it up. He tapped it, but the entire right side fell apart. Nathan sighed in annoyance. "Damn..."

"We'll get 'em fixed once we get back. C'mon, let's go."

"Right." Nathan and Diana headed back for the warehouse/parking lot, taking their time and trying to be as stealthy as they possibly could. Eventually, they made it to the Ultra Vent opening.

"So...what do we do here?" Diana asked.

"We take the same way we got here. Do you tr-"

"Of course I trust you."

Nathan smiled at her and the two jumped down, plummeting downwards. They didn't equip their gliders, as it would just launch them back up. After a long journey downwards, they reached the dome again and maneuvered their way out of the air current. Equipping their gliders, they glided to the spawnpoint and headed back to HQ.

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah...sorry if the story's getting kinda odd. I'm trying to fit all this stuff in it and I think I'm starting to get too into stuff too early. The story's likely gonna be pretty long due to this, maybe up to even 30 chapters. I don't know, it's too early to tell as of now. But I'll try to fix it in later chapters guys, and I'll try giving both Nathan and Diana their moments in the spotlight! As usual, I'll try to have a new chapter out every day/other day; and favs and reviews are always greatly appreciated! I hope you'll enjoy what's to come, I'm working very hard to make the story worth reading!  
**_


	14. Chapter 14: From Bad to Worse

Returning to the house above HQ, Nathan and Diana took a moment to catch their breath. They sat by the wall close to the elevator. Diana took off her headset, making sure it was still in good condition. Nathan simply sat there, looking at the Boss Key and thinking. So many questions filled mind, and he had no idea if they would ever be answered. He sighed in disappointment.

"What's the matter?" said Diana, hearing Nathan's sigh.

"Nothing," said Nathan, "It's just...there's SO many question going through my mind. That was just the second mission...it felt like three missions in one to me."

"It's okay. This is all my fault...I shouldn't have faced those Octolings alone. If I hadn't, none of this would've happened."

"Well...we did find the camp. Even we did beat them, we would've gone there eventually."

"No, not that. I mean...me getting beaten up by that Edith girl...you getting into that fight with Edith and getting your headset damaged...It wouldn't have happened if we just fought and dealt with those two Octolings together and headed up the big giant vent...Ultra Vent I think it was called. I'm an idiot for thinking I could beat an elite like that."

"Don't say that!"

"Huh?"

"You're bolder than I am! I'd hesitate a bit before dealing with an elite. Those guys are way tougher than normal Octolings, and they're way harder to splat. That's why I asked if you were sure you'd be okay."

"I...I should of-"

"Hush! You're better than you think you are. I've seen it. You just have to have faith in yourself. You're not weak, Diana. Besides, didn't you save me from Edith just a little while ago?"

Diana was silent. She was looking down at her feet. She had prevented Edith from doing further harm to Nathan, but she didn't think she saved him. She suddenly thought back to a time, a time before she and Nathan moved to Inkopolis, about a year ago if not more.  
"Something wrong?"

"N-No...just thinking again..."

"It was about the incident, wasn't it?"

"...Yeah. But...then again...you saved me during that event. After that, you were the one who influenced me to play in all those Turf Wars. I pushed beyond my limits to be like you."

"You morphed yourself into a powerful Inkling, Diana. But you didn't have to push yourself in order to do that. Don't let anything bring you down. Be like you are in Turf Wars, and work hard but not too hard. Overexertion will only make you weaker. Now c'mon, let's head down." Nathan hit the button for the elevator.

Diana looked away for a minute, thinking. She then got back up once the elevator arrived and she and Nathan rode it down to HQ. When they were arrived, they were greeted by Smith. "I am in so much trouble..." Diana thought to herself.

"Ah! Glad to see you're both okay!" Smith said before noticing Diana's worried expression, "Diana? You okay?"

"Uhhh..." she said in response, "I'm sorry I left in such a rush like that..."

"You're not in trouble, I was just really surprised. How are your injuries?"

"Better..."

"Glad to hear."

Diana looked at Nathan and then walked away towards the rest area.

"Is...she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," said Nathan, "She might still have that event stuck in her head now that she's been reminded about it."

"Her beat down?"

"No...something else. Something I witnessed. Something I too was a part of."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"She doesn't like to talk about it. It happened about a year ago, long before we moved to Inkopolis."

"What happened."

"I won't go into detail for now, but I'll try to explain...I just just turned 14 nearly five months before the incident, and Diana just turned 14 only about four months before it. We were at Turf War Training Camp on the second story of the main building. I don't know how, but something really bad happened. And that's when things started to heat up..."

"Why are you keeping it so vague?"

"I really don't like talking about it either." Nathan started to walk away. "Oh and by the way, Edith damaged my headset." He held the damaged device in his hand.

"Oh my! I'll get that replaced immediately!" Smith grabbed them and headed for his lab. "Oh and by the way, Cuttlefish said no more missions for today. You all could use a break, anyway." He entered the lab and closed to door behind him. Nathan changed into his normal attire in the changing area.

For the next few hours, the team simply hung out, discussing the task at hand and the overall situation. Smith fixed Nathan's headset and showed him and Diana some prototypes of new weapons, suits, and armor. He explained that he was working on a rank system that would be started once enough agents had joined.

At around sundown, Nathan headed to Rest Area 1, the room he and Diana shared. When he entered the room, Diana was lying down on her bed, lying flat on her back. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Huh? OH!" Diana immediately sat up, "Hehe...I was just bored, is all."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."

"Why are you giving me that look?"

"I just didn't expect you to be lying down motionless on your back is all."

"...Okay, I was thinking."

"Thinking?"

"About what you said. But moving on, I still wanna know WHY they're taking Inklings! Why they're causing all this trouble! Why they're so hellbent on annihilating us! It makes no sense...what- Wait..."

"What?"

"The Great Turf War...that was a battle they lost. Then the Agent 3 guy defeated them a second time... If they had been defeated before, they must be trying to improve their tactics, ranks, and weaponry. I can only assume they're more violent because they're trying so hard to beat us."

"Hmm...this whole plot is confusing. We need to gather the pieces and complete this puzzle...and I think I may have gained a few back at the camp during my recon."

"What did you find?"

"I witnessed an Inkling boy, being dragged while kickin' and screamin' for his life. Those damn Octolings slammed him in the head with a metal rod to knock him out, threw him into a container, and then a truck shipped his away to the camp's central tower."

Diana gasped. "What?! That's...that's-"

"Horrible, I know. It's insane. I saw other trucks, all carrying containers. Some of 'em where empty but I lot of them had other Inklings in it, and they were all headed towards that tower. So whatever they're doing to them, we'll likely find it inside that structure. The tricky is getting in it, though."

"We're obviously not doing it today."

"Yeah, definitely."

"Nathan...what else did you see?"

"Well...not much else related to the Inklings being captured, but I did see Edith talking to another Octoling girl named Abby, I think. Abby seemed to be not interested in whatever they're doing. She even said that she thought Edith took your beating too far. I'm starting to wonder what side that Octoling's truly on."

"I do too..."

"And when I was against Edith, Edith sent Abby to sound the alarm, but she never did or come back."

"Where did she go?"

"I really don't know. She could have been getting something and ended up being too late. I seriously am very curious to know just what she was doing."

"Do you think she might be an our side?"

"Who knows. It's perfectly possible. But I'm seriously not sure. I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"I hope we figure this out quick. I'm getting worried about those captured Inklings and their families. None of us, or them, have any idea what's going on and what's happening to those captured people. I wanna know so I can put an end to it. This whole thing is just...I can't even think of a word that can describe it! It's...unbearable! No...it's monstrous!"

"We'll find out what's going on. Let's check Inkopolis News, Callie and Marie should have an update on it by now." Nathan took out his phone to watch the latest update. Oddly, the latest report was a few minutes later than usual. The two watched and discovered a horrific truth.

Nearly 12% of Inkopolis's population was now missing. Both Nathan and Diana knew that 12% may not be a large amount when compared to something like 50% or 75%, but Inkopolis was huge. "12%" meant that at least a thousand Inklings had gone missing, and maybe up to two thousand or even three thousand. It was disturbing and vile, both Inklings' adrenaline was boosted by the sudden horror of these facts.

"12 percent?!" Nathan said.

"That's a lot of people!" said Diana, "It's an alarming amount!"

"That tower at the camp, it looked incapable of holding that many Inklings. There must be another place were they're keeping them!"

"I'm more worried on how QUICKLY and QUIETLY they took 'em all! 12% in a mere day is insane! Unimaginable! It's just...It's just...urgh! When I get my hands on them, I'm gonna-" She took a deep breath. "This is NOT happening!"

"I'm afraid it is, Diana. We need to know, what's going on and why! NOW!"

Suddenly, Smith burst through the door. "Guys! You have to see this!" he yelled.

The three ran to the supercomputer screen, which displayed a raid in Saltspray Rig, Inkopolis's main oil rig. The employees and workers of the rig where against the wall at gunpoint, with some players of a Turf War at gunpoint as well. Multiple Inklings were hiding from them behind walls and some may have been under the rig, retreating on boats.

While most of the Octolings were pointing guns at the terrified Inklings, some were clearing the large square-shaped platform on the stage's Top Area. In the distance was the Octarian Airship headed right for the rig.

"What the-?!" said Diana.

"Oh no!" said Nathan, "This is not good!"

"They've got Inklings at gunpoint!" said Agent 1, "They'll kill 'em if we don't do anything!"

"It's gotta be a trap," Nathan said, "They're trying to capture US."

"Of course it's a trap," and Smith, "the Boss Kettle somehow leads straight to it. And with the Octarian Airship headed right for the rig, I'm guessing that there's gonna be a boss fight right there!"

"We gotta stop 'em before it's too late!" said Cuttlefish.

"I'll go," said Nathan. Everyone looked at him. "We can't risk losing more Inklings. 12% have already been captured, as I heard on Inkopolis News. We need to make a move, now. But I'm not goin' alone, no why." He looked at Diana.

"I'll go with you!" said Diana, standing by Nathan's side.

"Even after all you've been through today?" said Smith, "You sure you wanna do this?"

"As long as there's air in my lungs and my soul is in my body," said Nathan, "I will always be ready! I will not surrender until the day I die!"

"...Same," said Diana, "I will not rest until these Octarians are stopped, broken, and destroyed! They've done too much already. Until my blood runs dry and my heart stops cold, even as my blood seeps out of open wounds and I have Octarian ink all over me, I will not give up!" She rose her weapon upwards. "I am as bold as a wolf, tough as nails! Or at least I try to..."

Nathan looked at Diana, smiling at her determination to get the mission done. "We'll beat 'em. We have to. But first we need the right equipment!" Nathan rushed into the weapons and gear room, with Diana and Smith following. "Smith, is it okay if we give those new suit prototypes a spin?"

"Of course! They're over here!" Smith got out two sets of gear that he called the Hero Suit 2.0 Proto. It was much like the normal Hero Suit, but it had armor inside the suit and had visible shoulder guards. The boots were designed to help the user jump higher and run a little bit faster. The headset design did not change, and the yellow safety vest was still on the suit.

After putting it on Nathan and Diana were both pleased with the suit being unexpectedly comfortable. "Now for a weapon," Nathan said as he grabbed his Silver Hero Roller.

"But Nathan...that thing was designed to be in Turf War...not combat," said Diana.

"Not really," said Smith, "That there was created by my grandfather! I made a few of them myself, but they're all sold out now. I find it so...amazing how the original ended up in your hands! It's built for both sport and combat."

"It was recently upgraded with the new Inknado special recently about a month ago, actually."

"You got to beta test it? You're one lucky kid!"

"Well, anyway, we need to hurry! Diana, what are you bringing?"

"I'm gonna bring this Hero Aerospray," said Diana, "I'd like to thank you for making this, Smith."

"No problem," said Smith.

"Now let's roll!" said Nathan and he and Diana headed for the elevator and out of the house above for the kettle leading to Saltspray. "It's splattin' time!" The two entered and they were off.


	15. Chapter 15: Rumble at the Rig

Arriving at the right spawnpoint at Saltspray Rig, away from the invading Octarians and Octolings, they immediately looked for a place to safely hid behind before entering the action. They headed for down the main pathway and made a right towards the path that lead to the Top Area.

They stood behind the wall, peeking to see two Octolings aiming their weapons at a group of five Inklings sitting against the wall with their hands up. They had terrified looks on their faces as the Octolings pointed their Octoshots at their faces.

"We know you're out there!" yelled an Octoling elite by the entrance to the square-shaped platform in the Top Area.

"If you don't show up soon, we'll start executing hostages!" yelled Edith next to the other elite.

"Damn..." said Nathan quietly, "If we attack one group, they're all gonna come after us!"

"I'll try and get those two from up here," said Diana, "An Aerospray's fire rate should deal with 'em quickly." Diana aimed her weapon at the two Octolings, who were right next to each other, looking at the Inklings. Diana fired, splatting one. The other tried to sound the alarm, but Diana splatted her before she had the chance.

Nathan went down towards the hostages, who calmed down. "Hurry, get yo the lower floor of the rig!" Nathan said quietly, "But be extremely quiet!"

"I'll escort 'em to safety," Diana told Nathan, "You take out the other Octolings."

"...Okay. Stay safe!" Nathan headed for the stage's Bottom Area towards the rectangular platform, where three more hostages, who were in a Turf War match, were being kept by two Octolings. Between two of the hostages was a puddle of Octarian ink, meaning that one of them was already splatted. Nathan was quick to realize that the Inkling spawnpoints had been shut down, and that the one he and Diana used had only been on for the short time they stood on it.

Nathan was as stealthy as he could be, converting to the color the players were. He tossed a Seeker and it silently headed for the Octolings. Before they noticed the device, they were both splatted by the sub weapon's explosion. Nathan rushed to the aid of the Inklings, instructing them to get out of the rig, showing them the way they had to go in order to get out safely.

Following his instructions, they rushed for the path to the lower area of the rig. Nathan continued his search for hostages, and eventually found yet another group of five Inklings. This time, however, there were three containers and three Octolings rather than two. They were huddled up, discussing something.

Nathan took it as an opportunity to dispose of them. He tossed a Splat Bomb at them, which landed by an Octolings foot. He noticed it, but it went off before he could analyze what it was, splatting all but one Octoling, who was dazed. Nathan used his roller to finish him off. Just then, Agents 1 and 2 arrived at the scene.

"What are you doing here?" Nathan said.

"We came to escort the Inklings to safety," said Agent 2, "Gramps, or Cuttlefish as you know, says he wants us to do that while you and Diana take on the boss...wherever it is."

Diana arrived as well. "Hehe...sorry. It was pretty hard getting all those people down there. One of 'em passed out just as they arrived at a boat heading away from the rig."

"It's cool." Nathan activated this headset, "Smith, what do you want us to do?"

It was silent for a moment. Smith looked at Cuttlefish, who nodded. "Nathan, I think you got this," Smith answered at last, "You're in charge of this mission.

Nathan was wide-eyed for a moment. "What?"

"You have the determination to be a leader. Now see if you can put that faith of yours to the test."

Nathan hesitated and then nodded slightly. "Yes." He ended to call. "Agent 1, I want you at the Top Area and I want Agent 2 on the bottom. Look for any more hostages and try to free them. If you need backup, let me know. Diana, you're with me. We're gonna take out the boss."

"Why are you giving the orders?" Agent 2 questioned.

"I'm putting Nathan in charge," Smith said through the headset, "He seems to be fitting for a team leader."

"Oh...okay. Thanks for clearing that up."

"I'm sure he'll do great!" Agent 1 said.

"Alright," said Nathan, "Let's move!" He and Diana headed for the square platform area while Agent 1 took the rest of the Top Area and Agent 2 took the Bottom Area. Nathan halted, stopping Diana as well, when he spotted Edith and the other elite guarding the one way into the now cleared square area.

"How are we gonna get past them?" Diana said.

"We take the alternate route." Nathan answered.

"The walls over there?"

"Yep!" Nathan and Diana inked a wall and climbed up it in squid form. Peeking out of the Ink puddle atop, they spotted Edith and the other elite simply talking to each other. Nathan threw down a Splat Bomb, which landed right by the two elites. Edith managed to jump out of way of the blast, but the other wasn't as quick and was splatted. Nathan and Diana jumped down, facing Edith.

"Looks like ya came!" Edith said, "Great! We got a big surprise for you two! I don't have to fight ya this time, our little pet with deal with that!"

"Little pet?" said Nathan.

"Oh you'll love it!" Edith threw some Splash Walls, blocking the two Inklings from attacking her.

"Looks like we don't have a choice!" Diana said as she and Nathan entered the square area, only for the path out to be blocked off by falling crates, trapping them on the square platform. The Octarian Airship was hovering above, with Nero at the edge, smiling down.

"Release the first New Great Octoweapon," he ordered. A large trapdoor opened on the bottom of the ship and the boss machine dropped onto the platform. Diana was instantly horrified by the sight, while Nathan backed up with a look of shock on his face at the behemoth of a boss.

It was a large, robotic creature that looked like a scorpion. The claws of the machine were huge, with ink blasters inside the claws. It had six legs and a long scorpion-like tail, with a head with two glowing purple eyes and a Killer Wail inside its mouth.

"What in the name of-?!" Diana yelled.

"What is that?!" Nathan said.

"That..." said Edith, "Is the first of the New Great Octoweapons, the Octoscorpio! You are fresh meat! Are should I say...fresh SQUID! Ha!"

Nathan faced the creature, glaring at it. "Bring it on!" he yelled. The Octoscorpio roared in Nathan's face, but it didn't effect him very much. Nathan circled the beast as he tried to find its weak spot. He looked carefully, but the beast didn't seem to have a visible weak point.

It opened its claw, charging a powerful shot. Nathan looked for Diana, who was heading his way. He noticed the weapon was glowing red, so he figured they should try shooting at it as it was charging and see what happens. Diana arrived and, figuring the same thing, fired at the scorpion's claw.

After a few seconds of firing, the blaster got jammed and the entire machine was "knocked-out" for a moment as a tentacle-like object sprung from the back of the creature.

"That's it!" said Nathan. He ran up and slammed it with his roller weapon, obliterating it. He super-jumped away as the tentacle regenerated and popped back into the Octoscorpio. This time, the beast was more aggressive and used its Killer Wail. Its mouth opened and it fired the laser, which Diana just barely dodged.

"Aim for the blasters in the claws!" Nathan used his roller to spray a ton of ink at the blaster in one of the claws. Unlike the last time, the beast didn't fall after one of the claw blasters were taken out. Diana quickly fired at the other opened claw, and once both were taken out, the machine was KO'd once again.

Diana took the opportunity to fire at the tentacle, which appeared again. Taking it out, she super-jumped away as the tentacle regenerated again. The Octoscorpio's tail sprouted a Splatling gun and roared loudly. Nero and Edith were surprised the two Inkling had made it this far into the fight already.

The creature rampaged and flailed its claw at Diana, hitting her and launching her almost of the edge of the platform. Hanging on for dear life, she yelled for help. "Nathan! Help me!"

"Diana! Don't worry I'm coming!" He rushed over, but the creature grabbed Nathan with its claw and pointed its Spaltling gun at him. Charging it, it seemed the fight was over. However, the creature forgot to restrain Nathan's arms, and Nathan slammed the Splatling with his roller, destroying it. The creature lost its grip and released Nathan, and he quickly dispatched the claw's blaster.

Diana's grip quickly gave way, and she fell. Nathan caught her arm just as she lost her grip. "Thank goodness!" said Diana as Nathan pulled her up to safety. She breathed heavily as she recovered. The Octoscorpio tried to grab Diana, but she ducked and fired at the claw, destroying the blaster and once again KO'ing the creature.

"This better be it!" said Nathan as he super-jumped upwards and slammed the tentacle as he landed, destroying it and finally defeating the Octoscorpio, which exploded into blue ink. Nathan shielded Diana as she converted to blue so she wouldn't be harmed.

"What?!" said Nero in anger, "They actually WON?!" He growled in extreme anger and frustration. "All Octarians retreat. We need a new weapon to take down those two." The Airship left with all of the Octarians that raided the base on it. Nathan and Diana met with Agents 1 and 2, who congratulated them for their victory.

"Alright buckos," said Cuttlefish over the headset, "You can head back to your homes now. That's all for today! I'll see ya in the mornin'!" The four headed back to their homes in Inkopolis, happy about their victory.


	16. Chapter 16: An Unexpected Visitor

Inside a room that was incredibly large, Nero entered and walked down a red path towards an enormous throne with someone sitting on it. Huge torches lit up the windowless room. Nero walked up to where the red path ended. The huge man stood up.

"What is your purpose here?" he said in a tough tone.

"They've beaten the first of our Octoweapons," Nero replied.

"Tell me, Nero...why are you in this army?"

"To make sure the Octarians prevail."

"Yes, you are correct, my son. I put you in the highest position for a reason: You're tough. Strong. Malevolent. I trained you to be an ultimate Octoling. You have succeeded in becoming one. Just the qualities I'm looking for. Being the top commander, I expect great things from you, Nero. I expect you to lead us to victory."

"You will not be disappointed...King Octavio." Nero smirked.  
 _ **  
The next day...**_

Nathan woke up from his sleep, not knowing what the day would bring after his experience from yesterday. If the Octarians could build a massive airship and a giant robot scorpion, just imagine what else they could build. Nathan's thoughts were focused on the same question that he and the entire New Squidbeak Splatoon were thing: What was the reason for all this? The Inkling kidnappings, the raid back at Saltspray Rig, what was it all about?

As Nathan prepared himself for the day, equipping his roller and placing it in a scabbard-like case on his back that he himself created, he wondered to himself if the some of the Octarians weren't as bad as the rest. The one Octoling he and Diana talked about before the assault on the rig, Abigail, seemed like she might be the good side. But Nathan truly didn't know, and had a feeling that he may never.

However, he ignored his thoughts and headed for the plaza where the manhole to Octo Valley was. When he exited his home however, he looked at Diana's place next door. He knocked on the door a few times, and heard a scream in surprise. Nathan chuckled, as he was used to this happening back at his old home. Diana opened the door halfway, still half asleep.

"Nathan?" she said.

"You overslept?"

"...I guess? My alarm clock hasn't been set up just yet. I was in the middle of a dream when you knocked on the door. Damn...that knocker sounds like a fish flippin' car crashing instead a building. Not much better than back at our old place, but the place itself is better here. My room back there didn't have nearly this much space."

"Heh heh, true. Sorry if I startled you. I'll knock manually next time. I hate knockers, anyway."

"Tell me about it. Anyway, I'm gonna get dressed. I'll meet you back at base."

"Okay." Diana closed the door and Nathan headed for base. When he entered the plaza, he realized that the number of Inklings was notably smaller than it was the last time he was there. Most Inklings were taking about the disappearances and the Saltspray Rig incident, which was all over the news.

Nathan entered the manhole and arrived at Cuttlefish's house. Smith was outside by the house, working on what looked like blueprints on a white desk, equipped with a light for nighttime work. There was man standing next to him, who was telling him about the blueprints.

"Smith?"

"Huh?" Smith said, "Oh, hey Nathan! Where's Diana?"

"She's on her way. She woke up late."

"So this the Agent 4 guy you've been talking about?" the man said, turning to face Nathan. Nathan recognized his face almost immediately. It was Champion X, the well-known Turf War master and current holder of the championship title. He wore the Champion Belt that marked his championship, but was otherwise dressed up like an average Inkling. He seemed to be about 18 years old.

"Whoa! Ch-Champion X?! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm just talking with my bro, that's all."

"Wait...you and Smith are brothers?!" Nathan was so shocked that he almost fell over.

"Yes, actually!" Smith intervened, "But uh...not many people know...Put don't tell anyone, okay?"

"I promise I won't!"

"Thank you," said X as he lifted his Paintball Mask, "My real name's Matthew. Nice to meet ya, kid."

Nathan calmed down and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, too!" The two shook hands.

"So as you probably don't know, I'm actually a weapons and armor designer myself. I created the very weapon I use in every battle."

"The Platinum X Roller?"

"Yep. That's the one. Me and Smith here are developing a new weapon together. We don't have a name for it just yet, but I think when it's ready you'll like it."

"What is it?"

"You'll see eventually!"

"Cuttlefish wants you at HQ," Smith said, "He wants to show something to you and Diana...when she arrives of course."

"Got it," said Nathan as he entered the house and the elevator for HQ. When he arrived, Cuttlefish was sitting in a wooden chair, talking with Agents 1 and 2. He was showing them how to use the supercomputer, which Agent 1 seemed to have a lot of trouble with.

"I can't find the menu button!" she said panicked.

"Ugh..." Agent 2 said as she pressed the menu button, which was large and said "MENU" right on it.

"Oh...uh..."

"This is why you can't pass a driving test...or ride a bike."

"I can ride a bike!"

"...Why did we take you to the hospital three weeks ago?"

"...Uh...I was sick?"

Agent 2 simply facepalmed and walked away.

"Is anything...okay?" Nathan asked.

"Oh, everything's fine!" Cuttlefish said, "My grandkids are trying to use the big supercomputer. But it's been rather complicated, especially for Agent 1. She does NOT know now to operate very many things...I try my best to help her out."

"Heh heh! So I saw that X...or Matthew...is here with us today."

"Yep, that's the big bucko himself! He's just visiting for a few hours though, he's helping Smith with a new weapon design. I think it's some kind of roller, but I don't know. The bros won't let me look at it. But anyway, where's Diana. Is she alright?"

"She overslept. She's on her way."

"Okay! I just wanted to tell you that the Hero Suits 2.0 is ready for use."

"Thanks for letting me know!" Nathan heading for the Rest Area and put on the suit, equipping the Hero Shot that came with it. He placed his roller, still in its scabbard, against the wall by one of the beds. When he arrived back in the main base room, Diana arrived, her face with a look of shock.

"Nathan!" she said, "Why is the Champion here?!"

"He's apparently Smith's younger brother," said Nathan, "The two are developing a weapon of some sort. X is only gonna be here for a little while, though."

"Wait...WHAT?! He's Smith's br-"

"I was thinking the same thing! It's quite a coincidence, isn't it? Anyway, the Hero Suit 2.0 is ready according to the Cap'n." Diana headed for the armor room, putting on the suit as well. When she returned, Smith and Matthew came down to join the group. Smith pushing a button on the supercomputer keyboard, and a table unfolded from the floor. Gathering, the team discussed.

"So," said Cuttlefish, "Them Octojerks are stepping up their game. They've raised the difficulty quite a bit."

"Yeah," said Smith, "They're no easy enemy to take down."

"My grandfather fought in the Great Turf War," said Matthew, "He said that at true power, they can be a real handful. And I've seen what you've been through. Those cameras on the headsets have a recording feature as well."

"The Octarians ain't go down without a fight. A BIG fight," said Nathan, "But I think that Nero is gonna be one of the big threats. He's gonna be no piece of cake to take out."

"And then there's Octavio," said Agent 1, "And if Nero's as deadly as he seems to be, than I can barely imagine what the big boss has in store for us."

"That giant scorpion thing was powerful," said Diana, "But we took it down. Whatever they've got for us next, it's gonna be big and bad."

"I know," said Smith, "We have to think of some way to deal with 'em ahead of time."

"We just need to keep improving our gear and looking for Boss Keys. The second area is now open, and I've heard some other Splatoon called the Elite Five is doing recon somewhere around there.

"Elite Five?" said Diana.

"As in that squad of experienced players of both Turf War and Ranked Battles?" Nathan said.

"That's what we're thinkin'. Yeah," said Matthew, "It's gotta be them."

"We'll meet up with 'em eventually," said Cuttlefish, "For now, let's focus on finding the next Boss Key! I'm gonna try lookin' for more agents. Since the Saltspray incident, a few have actually volunteered to join."

"Me and Diana will head out for the Boss Key," said Nathan, "We might encounter that odd Octoling Abby along the way, too."

"Alright then, bucko! Good luck!"

"Same to you, sir!" Nathan and Diana rushed out and headed for the now-open second area. They found the area's first kettle and braced themselves for whatever was ahead.

Diana took in a deep breath. "Another day, another mission."

"Yeah. Let's move out." Nathan headed into the kettle, with Diana close by his side.


	17. Chapter 17: Meeting the Elites

Arriving the second area's first dome, Nathan and Diana examined the place. The giant light was much dimmer, and the screens showed a dark dark blue night sky, almost black.

"I feel like its nighttime again," said Nathan. The dome even had street lights that lit the path forward. It seemed that this dome was a very small city, more like a town. It seemed that no one was around except for a few Octolings that guarded the place.

"Looks like we'll have to take 'em out." Nathan sneaked up to behind a wall, with Diana following him as usual. Nathan activated a seeker and sent it towards an Octoling. The Octoling wasn't quick enough the realize it, and was splatted. Hearing the explosion, many of the other Octolings, eight of them, appeared to examine the situation.

"They're here!" one of them said, "Stay alert!" The Octolings surrounded the puddle of ink, looking in all directions.

"Dammit..." said Diana.

"Guess we have no choice but to ambush," Nathan told Diana as he equipped his weapon and converted his color to orange.

"Are you sure? I-It's eight of th-"

"Diana. We can do this. Just be careful and think strategically."

"Right." The two then launched their attack, firing at the Octolings.

"There they are!" said an Octoling and they fired. Both Inkling and Octarian ink were quickly splattered over a large area. Nathan and Diana had much trouble dealing with eight Octolings at once, but apparently the Octolings had trouble deciding who to shoot.

"You four take out the girl," said the leader, an elite, "You three, you and I will take the boy." The Octoling team split up, with one half heading for Nathan and the other for Diana. Both were concerned about how they would fare, as Diana had lost against just one elite, and Nathan was dealing with one and another four.

But they soon remembered something Nathan himself said just yesterday, "You just have to have faith in yourself." Diana remembered something else that she herself said, "Until my blood runs dry and my heart stops cold, even as my blood seeps out of open wounds and I have Octarian ink all over me, I will not give up!"

Remembering these quotes, the two sprang into action. Nathan knew that if he could defeat several different Turf War teams when the rest of his team was splatted and respawning, he could take down ambushing Octolings as well. Putting all his weapons to good use, he dealt with the attacking octopi one at a time.

Diana used her own skills to her advantage as well. She was quite agile, as she often played other sports aside from Turf War in her spare time, she even used to take a gymnastics class. She used her agility to dodge attacks, something she forgot she could do in her fight with Edith. At one point she even splatted an Octoling behind her by performing a small backflip to dodge an incoming attack and throwing a Splat Bomb right as she landed.

"It's easier to fight strategically when you remember what you can do!" Diana said, her morale quite high.

"Told you!" Nathan replied. After about a minute of fighting, a loud bang was heard and one of the Octolings was splatted by something. The fight temporarily stopped as an Inkling jumped from a rooftop, landing a few meters away from the action. He fired his charger weapon, launching paths of orange ink.

As two Octolings charged at him, he yelled to Nathan and Diana,"Well don't just stand there! I'm here to help!" The three proceeded with fighting the Octarians, using their strategies and best efforts. They eventually dispatched the Octolings as the ink vanished.

"Yeah!" said Nathan. The mysterious young man walked up to the two, changing his color to one he was used to, in this case purple.

"Who are you?" Diana asked.

"I'm Jason," the Inkling said, "Leader of the Elite Five. I was here for recon."

"So the Elite Five IS here," Nathan said.

"Yep. We are!"

"Who's the Elite Five exactly?" said Diana.

"Why don't I just show you?" said Jason. Four more Inklings emerged from the shadows. They each had different ink colors, including lime green, red orange, yellow orange, and dark blue. Each of them were holding a different weapon, which they unequipped.

"We are the Elite Five!"

"I remember you guys!" said Nathan, "You visited Starfish Stadium back where we used to live!"

"Hey! I remember seeing you, kid! What's your name...Nathan! You've gotten a lot better, I've heard. Who's the girl?"

"I'm Diana," she said, "But I've never really heard of you...surprisingly."

"I guess we need a good intro then." He introduced his members one by one. He started with the yellow orange one, "That right there is Jessica, my first lieutenant and second in command."

"Yep!" said Jessica, holding a Forge Splattershot Pro, "When he's not around, I take over for him for the time being."

Jason moved on to the dark blue one. "This here is my weapons expert, David."

David pulled out two Blasters and pointed them at Nathan and Diana. "Ya feelin' lucky? Punks," he said.

"Easy, David."

"Hey, I was just squiddin'! I just wanted to show 'em my sick customized Blasters."

Jason turned to the lime green one. "This gal is the technology nerd, Sarah.'

Sarah was wearing pilot goggles, which she lifted to on top of her head. "Hmm...you two seem to like each other." Diana blushed, causing Sarah to chuckle.

Jason turned to the last one, the red orange one. "And this guy right here is the scientist, Tony."

"I study a lot of things," said Tony, "But I like biology the most."

"Together, we are a power team of Turf War players. We're the best of the best...well, besides Champion X of course. HE'S the best of the best. We're just...the guys in 2nd place, y'know? We're here for recon duties. We're allied with Cuttlefish, but he don't really do much else, since so many people request us to be at some kind of Turf War match or Ranked Battle to challenge us."

"So...you're just the recon team?" said Nathan.

"Yeah. But when it's time to fight...Hehe...We can FIGHT!"

"Especially me!" said David, "Look at these muscles! And these blasters, man! They ain't even my main! My super Heavy Splatling gun is my true main! It's such a-"

"David, shut up!" Tony said, "You've given this speech like...a hundred million times!"

"A hundred million?" said Sarah, "Oh please, I'm sure it's more like...at least a hundred BILLION." She chuckled. David responded by elbowing her in the side. "Ow! Hey! That hurt!"

"Stop it you guys, we're in the middle of something, here!" Jason ordered, "Listen, Nathan and Diana. We'll keep an eye out for suspicious activity whenever and wherever we can, both here in Octo Valley and in Inkopolis. We'll do the best we can to help out. But for now, I think we should go up and see what's goin' on in Inkopolis."

"Yeah," said Jessica, "Might be a good idea to make sure no more Inklings have gone missing."

"We have to go. We wish you luck. There's an area over there that seems like something was going on there. I would suggest heading that way." He pointed to the north.

"Okay," said Diana, "Thank you for your help."

"No problem, kid. We'll see ya soon." Jason and the rest of the Elite Five left.

"Alright," said Nathan, "Well, at least we know that the New Squidbeak Splatoon has a recon team."

"Yeah...I'm ready to move on now," said Diana, "What about you?"

"Ready as I'll ever be! Stay close to me so we don't get separated."

"Got it!" The two continued on with their mission, charging onwards. They followed the path towards what seemed to be a large Octarian work station, similar to Inkopolis's Walleye Warehouse. The Octarian army logo was placed right on the door. Nathan and Diana knew that trying to enter through the front door would be extremely stupid and dangerous.

"How are we gonna get inside without being noticed?" Diana said.

"Hmmm...Another way in?" Nathan looked around and spotted an air vent. "Up there! There's a vent!"

"Of course! We can travel through the air ducts!"

"C'mon!" Nathan turned into squid form, slipping through the vent bars. Diana did the same, and the two crawled through the vents to see what they could find and hoped for a glimpse of the interior of the building while in the vent.

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! This story has a Tumblr page now! The reason is so I can show you a better representation of what the characters look like, and I'll be posting art of the characters on there from time to time! I'll put a link to it on my profile page if I can.  
**_


	18. Chapter 18: Betrayal

Crawling through the vents, Nathan and Diana explored to see what they could find. Knowing that there had to be at least one more vent somewhere, they looked around for some kind of opening so they could see the inside of the building without getting caught, while safely in the vents. Eventually, they found a split in the path.

"Looks like it goes two ways," said Nathan.

"Should we split up?" Diana asked.

"It would help us cover more ground quicker."

"Alright then." Diana took the left path while Nathan took the right. Nathan was the first to find something odd. He found another vent. Looking through it, he saw a room inside the building. It was large, with stainless steel walls and a floor that seemed to be made of stone. There was a large work station by the north wall, with lots of tools and blueprints.  
Nathan spotted an Octoling enter. It was Abby, the one who was suspected to be on the good side. Abby was developing what looked like a variation of the Splattershot Pro, only it had a dark metallic color. She had multiple blueprints with her of both the normal Splattershot Pro and the Forge Splattershot Pro. She also had blueprints for the original Splattershot as well.

"Dammit Edith," Abigail said to herself, "I told you not to mess with my blueprints!" She started looking around for another sheet. She sighed as she searched for them and eventually found what she was looking for. "I swear to-" The door suddenly flung open and Edith entered.

"ABIGAIL!" she yelled angrily, "You freaking abandoned me! You let those two damn punks beat me!"

"Really? I heard Nero intervened before they beat you."

"Where were you?!"

"Working on new weapons, like WE were ordered to BEFORE we were ambushed!"

"You said you'd sound the alarm!"

"I did. I told Nero."

"So...you did help?!"

"I didn't want to, but I did anyway."

"DIDN'T WANT TO?! Abby, what's wrong with you?! Not only that, but you haven't harmed an Inkling since the battle with the little orange bitch!"

"Ugh! Fine, I'll confess!...I think this whole is ridiculous! I mean, come on! We could have shared the land, it's been a hundred years since the Great Turf War and sea levels have dropped since then! Why couldn't we have just asked for a truce and shared the land?!"

"Share the land? Like the old days? After what they did to us?! You want to make peace between us?! That's impossible! Abigail, get your head straight and keep it straight. I'm reporting this to Nero."

"He already knows!"

"So what?! I'm gonna tell him, anyway!" Edith prepared to burst out the door when she was hit in the back with a Splat Bomb that then exploded into purple ink rather than the usual dark fuchsia Octarian ink. When Edith looked to Abigail, her anger turned into shock and surprise.

Abigail had turned her hair color into the same shade of purple that the Inklings could turn into. An Octoling being able to change hair color or ink color was unheard of. Edith backed away a little bit. Nathan was also shocked, he contacted Diana immediately, telling her to get to a vent as fast as she could to see what was going on. She eventually found one and saw everything.

"What the hell?!" Edith said.

"I'm guessing you're surprised," said Abigail, "I'm no ordinary Octoling, if you can even call me that. I appear to be an Octoling, but I'm actually not entirely."

"What are taking about?!"

"I am an Inkling/Octoling hybrid! I look like an Octoling and can fire and produce the dark fuchsia ink of Octarians, but I have the color-changing powers of an Inkling. And did you never notice the two small extra tentacles on the back of my head? I'm your HALF sister, not a full sister. You came first from two Octoling parents, but then Mom somehow married an Inkling or reason I don't even know. You were left with Dad, don't you remember?"

"You mean this whole time...you've been a hybrid and you never told me?! I had no idea Mom remarried until she came back with you, but I thought it was just another Octoling she married to. I was wrong!" Edith sweep-kicked Abigail, knocking her down. Edith jumped onto Abigail, pinning her down. "And now, I don't care anymore!"

"Should we intervene?" Diana said as she contacted Nathan.

"It may be a good idea," said Nathan, "She might be able to help us out."

"On it!" Diana bust out the vent, which Nathan doing the same. They aimed their weapons at Edith, who was shocked and angered even more.

"Wha- How-" Edith said, "URGH! THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT! YOU'RE ALL ON MY TO-KILL LIST!" Edith went on a rampage, stealing an Inkzooka-like weapon and blasting the Inkling wildly. Abigail was stunned for a minute, but quickly reentered reality and stood up. Realizing Edith's berserk behavior, she charged at her.

Edith fired at Abigail, but being part Octoling, she was able to turn into the Octarian ink color and charge through the ink tornadoes unscathed. Using tricks she learned from Abigail, she delivered a blow to the face, knocking the giant weapon out of her hands to the ground. She then converted her ink color to green and fired at Edith.

Abigail was a creature unlike any other, a hybrid between Inklings and Octolings. It was thought to be impossible, but it was. Abby's appearance was that of an Octoling, though she had two extra tentacles on her hair. they were small like an Inkling's, placed between the two normal back hair tentacles.

Her octopus form was rather odd as well. It too was a hybrid, it was like an "octosquid". It had ten limbs but had a head that looked like a mix between a squid and an octopus. It was very weird-looking, but it allowed Abigail to get out of certain situations related to Inklings.

"I ain't gonna let you guys destroy the Inklings over a problem that could've been easily fixed decades ago!" Abigail yelled, "You could've tried to make more room yourselves along with them, but you just HAD to try n' kill em, huh?"

"It wasn't my decision!" Edith yelled back, "It was Octavio's! If you want to blame anyone, blame him!"

"I know, but your encouraging that you keep capturing them! You may have stopped kidnappin' em for now, but I won't let you take another one!"

"How dare you?! You're speaking like an Inkling!"

"Well technically, I AM half Inkling! I'm an octosquid, you could say. And I'm not alone in my quest to restore peace either!"

"What do you mean?!" Suddenly, a squad of about fifteen full-blood Octolings appeared in the building, surrounding the brawl. They all had golden colored armor with a symbol on the breastplate of the Octarian and Inkling symbols together. None of them were wearing Octoling goggles. "What is this?!"

"This is my new squad. Turns out that not all of us are so heartless for the Inklings."

Nathan and Diana looked around them. "What...the hell?! What's going on?!" Nathan said.

"This is probably very confusing to you, Inkling. I'll explain later."

"URGH! ARGH! URRRRRRGH!" Edith yelled, "I'M REPORTING YOU AND YOUR STUPID SQUAD TO COMMANDER NERO! IMMEDIATELY! HE'LL SHOW YA WHAT WE DO TO TRAITORS LIKE YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" She used a grappling hook to burst open a vent and headed for the roof. She summoned an aircraft and flew away, engaged. "I'll get 'em! I swear I'll make 'em ALL pay!" she thought to herself as she rushed away.

"Alright, she's gone!" Abigail said to her squad members, "You can go back to what you were doing!" She turned to Nathan and Diana. "Sorry if that was confusing."

Both Inklings were wide-eyed. Diana's jaw had dropped in shock. "Wh- What th-" she said.

"Not ALL of us are heartless. Unfortunately, at least 90% of the Octoling population is, and 10% of it is only about a hundred. But I found as many as I could, about 75 or 80. Our organization is simply called the Squid-Octopi Peacemakers, due to the lack of ability to think of a better name..."

"...I...am so shocked!" said Nathan, "This is crazy!"

"Tell me about it!" said a voice over the headset.

"Smith?" Nathan responded.

"We all saw the whole thing! It's incredible as it is surprising! Cuttlefish wants you to ask her if she'd be willing to join us!"

"Okay." Nathan hung up. "The captain of our Splatoon has requested an alliance. Would you-"

"Of course!" said Abby, "I've been waiting for you to ask that! One of the reasons I formed the organization was to align with you and help you out. They're capturing Inklings for a horrific purpose."

"What?! WHAT?!" Diana said.

"...I'm afraid I can't explain it here. If Edith is true to her word, which she always is, we can't stay here. They'll catch us! We'll need to retreat. I want to show you something." She walked out of the building to the back, showing some vehicles. They included motorcycles and car-like machines built for warfare and traveling at high speeds. Some even had Inkling symbols on it.

"I made these for a fast getaway. Some of 'em have weapons as well. Just...pick your favorite!" Nathan headed for a four-wheeled vehicle that looked similar to a dune buggy, but had two Splatling guns on it, one on each side of the vehicle, and even an Inkstrike launcher. Diana picked a three-wheeled ATV, equipped with ink cannons similar to Aerosprays by the front and an Killer Wail on the back to act as both a weapon and a speed boost when needed.

"Whoa!" said Diana, "So you make vehicles, too?"

"Yep!" Abigail said as she got on her own vehicle, a motorcycle equipped with a roller-like weapon on the back that could be lowered to spread in ink trail, as well as some blasters on the sides.

"Alright," said Nathan, "I'll lead the way!"

"Fine by me! I'll be in front to lead you to where to go. You can give the orders though."

"Okay...let's convert to the same color so we don't accidentally kill each other!" They all decided on blue, and converted to that color. "Now let's ride!" The three started their vehicles.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Diana said, "I'm actually pretty nervous!"

"Don't worry," said Abigail, "I promise they're perfectly stable!"

"Good," said Nathan, "Now let's roll out!"

"It's this way!" Abigail headed forward with Nathan and Diana behind her, and the three set off on a road that headed through a tunnel to another dome.


	19. Chapter 19: Great Chase

Riding their new vehicles on the highway-like road path, Nathan, Diana, and Abigail headed for a location, but only Abby knew exactly where they were going. The vehicles handed very well, traveling at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. As they entered the tunnel, Nathan looked around. There were some splatters of Inkling ink that appeared every once in a while, meaning something must have happened in the tunnel.

"Hey, Octoling?" he yelled.

"Yeah?" Abby replied.

"What's with all this Inkling ink?"

"The Octarians transport the captured Inklings throughout the domes. I don't know what happened here, but I can only guess someone got careless and let an Inkling break free. But if that's the case, then that Inkling wouldn't have made it far before he...or she...was recaptured. Or worse..."

"What do you mean worse?!" Diana said.

"You should know. I feel like if I say what's happening to you here, we'll be in even bigger trouble. Besides, I think it would be best if I told the whole group so I don't have to repeat myself. To save time and energy, ya know."

"She's right," said Nathan, "We need to tell EVERYONE."

"Of course!" said Diana, "But still...I want to know! 12% of the population of Inkopolis is GONE. G! O! N! E! GONE!"

"It's horrific, I know!" said Abigail, "But I know this army, and I can help you get through 'em! Oh by the way, my name's Abigail."

"We know, we overheard your conversation with Edith. My name's Diana, and he's Nathan."

"I see. Well then, I guess we should-"

"What? What is it?"

"Octovehicles! Enemies incoming!" yelled Abigail.

"What?!" Diana looked behind her to see a squad of Octarian vehicles heading right for them. The pack mostly consisted of hummer-like vehicles, each equipped with a large Inkzooka-like weapon that would fire Blaster-like ink bullets that exploded upon impact with something. In the middle of the pack was a larger vehicle with an elite Octoling, the leader, inside. It had two of the Inkzooka-like weapons instead of one like the rest.

"They're approaching us fast!" Nathan yelled, "Maybe some ink will slow 'em down!"

"Those things were built to travel any terrain, but they go quite slow when over Inkling ink!" Abigail said. "I'll give 'em some!" The vehicles that Nathan, Diana, and Abigail rode had ink tanks inside that were connected to the smaller ink tanks on their backs. The tank refilled automatically and surprisingly quickly, so running out wasn't as much of a concern.

Abigail activated the roller on her vehicle, making an ink trail behind her. While Nathan and Diana were not affected, the Octovehicles in the path were slowed down considerably.

"Try firing something at 'em!" Abigail said.

"Got it!" Nathan yelled back as he tried to figure out the functions. One red button had a Splatling symbol on it, so Nathan pressed it, which activated the Splatlings.

Abigail contacted Nathan through a radio, which was included on each of the three vehicles. "Hey Nathan, do you read?"

"Huh?" Nathan responded.

"There's a radio in your vehicle. See the gray metal box with the speaker and handheld transceiver, or walkie-talkie, connected to it? That's what we use to communicate while in the vehicles! Just use the walkie-talkie!"

Nathan picked up the transceiver. "So this is basically how we communicate with each other on these vehicles?" he said into it.

"Yep! Press that orange button to switch the guns to backward position so you can fire behind you! Hold down the green button to charge the Splatlings, then release it to fire! It'll glow when the weapons are fully charged!"

"Thanks for the tutorial!" Nathan pressed the orange button, pointing the guns backwards. Holding the green button and releasing it when it glowed, he successfully took out one of the Octovehicles. "Booyah! Direct hit!" He contacted Diana, but with his headset this time. "Diana, you read?"

"Loud and clear!" Diana responded.

"Just so you know, you can use the transceiver to contact Abigail. How are you holding up?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to work this thing!"

"Diana, on your vehicle, the green button fires the front cannons," Abigail said through the radio, "The orange one toggles the back weapon between ink shooters and the Killer Wail, and the yellow one fires the back weapon."

"Thanks!" Diana fired the back weapons. "Nathan, try using that Inkstrike launcher of yours!"

"Will do!" Nathan said, "Abigail, what button is it?"

"The press the blue button to charge the Inkstrike launcher!" said Abigail, "Press it again when it glows to launch! It's homing, so it will seek its target on its own!"

"Got it!" Nathan pushed the blue button just as the group exited the tunnel into another dome. This one had nothing but road, yet it looked abandoned, as it was empty aside from the roads, the group, and the pack of Octovehicles chasing after it. The chase continued, multiple shots being fired as the road continued like a highway. "Inkstrike's almost charged!"

"It can fire three Inkstrikes per charge," Abigail said, "But it uses up all of the ink tank, so you'll have to wait a little bit before you can fire your guns again."

"That's fine by me!" Nathan looked behind him to see the Octovehicles quickly getting closer.

"Open fire!" ordered the elite Octoling leader, a tall male with spiky hair and skin that was very pale. The Octovehicles launched their blasters. Nathan realized that his Inkstrike was just seconds away from full charge. Diana quickly switched her back weapon to the Killer Wail and fired, taking out two vehicles.

Abigail narrowly dodged attacks while firing her motorcycle's blasters and using the roller to make an ink trail. She even fired from a her handheld weapon, the Aerospray XG that she herself had designed and built.

"Inkstrike charged!" yelled Nathan.

"Time for the fireworks!" Diana said.

"Yep!" Nathan pushed the blue button and the Inkstrike cannon launched an Inkstrike missile right at the pack of Octovehicles. It hit one, destroying it in the ink tornado the Inkstrike created. A second one luanched. It missed, but the tornado destroyed another Octovehicle. The final Inkstrike fired, but hit nothing. It managed to strip two Octovehicles of their weapons, however. There were now only four vehicles left, three Octovehicles and the vehicle carrying the leader.

"Great shots!" Diana said to Nathan.

"Thanks!" Nathan said. Suddenly, a Octovehicle blaster shot was fired at Diana. Just as Diana noticed it behind her, the ink bullet collided with her vehicle, somehow managing to launch her upwards fairly high into the air. Nathan immediately noticed. "DIANA!" He quickly maneuvered his vehicle and Diana landed on the roof, suffering only a few bruises.

"Oh that hurt a little..." she said, "Thanks, Nath!"

"No problem!" Nathan rushed forward, nearly flooring the gas pedal. "I'm charging another Inkstrike! Abigail, you and I are the only ones left with vehicles. I'm gonna keep Diana safe while my weapon charges, try to distract them for me!"

"On it!" Abigail replied. She fired her blasters, getting the pack to focus on her. But she didn't exactly think it through, because with all four of the remaining vehicles firing at her, dodging the ink bullets got very hard. She did what she could however, and did manage to successfully by enough time for the Inkstrike to charge.

"Inkstrike charged!" yelled Nathan, "Diana! Might wanna cover your ears up there!" The Inkstrike cannon aimed and ready, it aimed for the big vehicle the leader was in. It fired. The missile traveled high into the air before quickly descending back down. It made a direct hit with the target, splatting the elite Octoling inside the vehicle it just destroyed.

"Leader down!" said an Octoling soldier, "Retreat! Retreat!" The remaining Octovehicles turned around and rushed away.

"Yeah! We did it!" said Diana excitingly.

"Yeah! We-" Nathan started to say.

"Look out! Cliff!" yelled Abigail.

"Huh? WHOA!" Nathan slammed the brakes, but he was too late, and the vehicle flipped over as it went over the edge, launching Nathan and Diana downwards. "Well...this seems familiar!"

"Nathan!"

"Diana! Hold on to me!" Diana maneuvered her way towards Nathan and grabbed him. Once Nathan was sure she had a firm grip, he extended the Octoglider he had obtained earlier. He kept it and brought it with him in case of emergency or if he simply needed it. Diana brought one back from her mercy mission, but forgot to bring it with her to this mission.

So, knowing this, Nathan had Diana hang on to him. Because it was more weight, the glider descended notably faster, but it still slowed them down to a safe speed. Nathan couldn't control it very well, however. He and Diana eventually made it to solid ground at the bottom of the dome.

Nathan dropped Diana few inches above the ground, and she landed safely. But due to his loss of control, Nathan himself had a rather rough landing. As he retracted his glider to land, he tripped when he placed his feet on the ground, and landed with a thud, rolling across the ground.

"Nathan!" Diana yelled as she rushed over to him. Nathan brought himself up to his knees, wiping and shaking off the dirt and dust he had collected during his rough landing. "Nathan! Are you alright?!"

"Ah...Yeah, I'm good!" Nathan responded, "Just a bit of a rough landing, that's all."

"I'll be sure to bring my glider next time!" Diana helped Nathan up and helped him brush off some of the dirt on his arms. Nathan noticed that Diana was blushing yet again, but decided to say nothing. He didn't even notice that he himself was blushing a bit as well.

"There you are!" said Abigail was she descended down with her own Octoglider. "I just wanted to show you this place right here." She pointed to what seemed to be an aircraft crash. All around it were the big containers the New Squidbeak Splatoon had been seeing. Many where broken, but some where completely different containers with what looked with restrained in them with needles.

"This is an aircraft that crashed a while ago. See these yellow containers? They're what the Inklings go in after they're taken to the Tower. They're purpose is for something...I really don't want to take about right now."

"Then let's head back to base!" said Nathan, "You can explain there."

"I'll take a few pictures of one of 'em so Smith can make some observations," said Diana. After she did so, the group left for a nearby spawnpoint that lead the the second area's second kettle. It just so happened that the dome they were in was were the second kettle lead to. They immediately headed for HQ.


	20. Chapter 20: Learning the Truth

"So you've been acting as an undercover spy?" Agent 1 asked Abigail as the entire New Squidbeak Splatoon, as well as the Elite Five, was gathered at the meeting table in HQ. There were more agents now, at least 13 more, totaling about 18 agents in the Splatoon now, including some of the Turf War players from the Saltspray Rig attack.

"Kinda," said Abby, "I wasn't exactly 'undercover', but gathered information so I could lead a rebellion one day alongside you. I'm glad I found you...well actually you found me and my squad in the middle of a brawl but...you know."

"Yeah," said Smith, "Imagine the things we could create. We can collaborate!"

"That's kinda what we're already doing," said one of the new recruits, Agent 12.

"Anyway," said Abigail, "It's time to spill the octobeans. Octavio has been taking them for reasons that I've questions since he began."

"I thought you said it was for ONE reason!" said Diana.

"It's for a few." Abigail took a deep breath, taking a USB out of her pocket. "I secretly took some pictures of the interior of the Tower."

"The Tower?" said Agent 2.

"It's the Octarian Camp's central tower. It's where only some of the Inklings are being kept."

"SOME?!" Diana exclaimed, "What about the others?!"

"Underground. Right underneath the tower. I'll show you." She plugged the USB into the USB port on the supercomputer, and a loading bar appeared on the screen. "This is what I saw." After a few moments, a picture came up on the screen. It showed containers aliened neatly along the walls, locked in place by slots, with Inklings inside. A few slots had no containers. Vehicles and mechanical arms were everywhere, with Octolings monitoring the area. Everyone gasped at the sight.

"What the-?!" said Jason.

"This is where they keep them. Locked in these containers, the Inklings are forced to watch as others are taken away. But this is the Tower. Here's the rest." Abigail pressed the next button on a remote that Smith provided her. The picture changed to that of an enormous dome, with hundreds of containers along the walls with at least 75% of them fulled with Inklings. There was about a hundred of mechanical arms placed all over the dome. There was a bridge-like platform connected to two exits to other domes placed in the center.

"Oh...My...Goodness!" said Diana in horror. Everyone looked at the image in shock and horror.

"Tell us what they're doing with them!" Nathan said.

"I'll do something better, I'll show you!" Abigail said as she removed the USB and inserted a new one. "This device is connected to some security cameras in the domes, the Tower, and the Mega Laboratory."

"The Mega WHAT?!" exclaimed David.

"This video coverage is LIVE, so you'll see what they're doing real-time and with sound!" Abby turned the coverage to a camera in the Tower. They saw two Octolings looked around, a small aircraft, and an Octoling operating something. One of the two walking Octolings pointed to a slot, labeled 3H, with a container in it. The other nodded.

"Take out 3H," he said in through his radio. The operator pressed a button labeled 3H and one of the many mechanical arms activated. The Inkling inside the container panicked as the arm grabbed the container, pulling it out of the slot and placing it on the small aircraft. The aircraft then flew downwards towards the underground Inkling storage area.

Abigail switched the coverage to one the cameras in the giant chamber. The aircraft pulled up by an Octoling elite, Edith, and the pilot started chatting with her.

"Edith? What's she doing there?" Nathan thought to himself. After a few moments, Edith pointed to one of the exits and the aircraft headed through it. Abby switched the camera to another dome with multiple stations. The dome had green lights that tinted the room green.

The aircraft stopped as another huge mechanical arm grabbed the container and placed it one of the stations. Immediately, multiple smaller mechanical arms and tools started working on the container. They moved and worked quickly, changing and altering the container.

"What's going on?!" exclaimed Smith.

"They're changing the container," said Abigail, "Watch." In about 30 seconds, the container was turned into a new type of container. A large, wide clamp-like restraint was placed around the Inkling's torso, who's face looked as if it were in pain from having it placed on him. Tubes were attached to it and a new lid with the tubes connected to it was placed on the container. Restraints were placed on the Inkling's arms and legs and connected to the top and bottom like cuffs to keep the Inkling from moving.

"What are they doing?!" Nathan said.

"They've turned that container into an ink-draining machine."

"Ink-draining? Why would they need our ink?!"

"They're using the ink to power their machines. We've recently discovered a way to convert Inkling ink into electricity or power as an alternative to Zapfish or oil or stuff like that. They drain their ink sacs until the sac runs dry!"

"And then what?!" Diana asked.

"...It depends. You see, Octavio grew more violent after his most recent defeat two years ago. So naturally, his followers, basically almost the entire Octoling race, got more violent as well. They've come up with a few things to start the Inklings off by using them as slaves." She activated another camera.

"They use them for stuff from harvesting crops at the camp to some hard labor. Sometimes they even put them in very dangerous situations, one time a few Inklings were forced to try and shut down a killing machine that went berserk. Only one lived through that."

"So they're using our Ink as a fuel source and killing us off?!" Diana yelled.

"You're half right. Well...actually...you're right. Once an Inkling's ink sac is recovered, they're put back into a container until the sac runs dry again. Once an Inkling runs out of usefulness, whether they're not strong enough when their sac recovers or if they're disobedient, the Octarians..."

"They what?! They what?!" yelled Agent 2.

"...Let's just say...the light goes out and never turns back on."

"WHAT?!" yelled Cuttlefish as he stood up. "I can't- How could they?! I-"

"They're no longer capturing Inklings, but they may start again. We have to do something!"

"We have to find Octavio!" Nathan said.

"Soldiers," said Cuttlefish, "I'm not normally one to act or say stuff like this...But when we find Octavio...he is going to pay."

"What, are we gonna kill him?" said Agent 9.

"We'll only do that if we're given no other choice. I'm not the killing kind, but I'll do it if I must."

"Octavio may be...difficult to beat," said Abigail.

"Why do you say that?" asked Sarah.

"This is why." She put up a video of an event in an Octarian dome. One Octoling elite was throwing fists at each other for an unknown reason, with multiple Octolings trying to break up the fight.

"Heh! Stupid octopi," said Tony.

"Keep watching. Look to that large door over there." A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing a huge, hulking, silver humanoid-shaped exo-suit walking towards them. Its head had glowing green eyes, with a samurai-like helmet on it. The torso was bulky, with glowing green tubes over the shoulders. The torso and arms were very heavily armored and the hands were like gauntlets. The legs weren't as armored, but were still heavily armored. The foot looked similar to the boots of the well-known Power Suit outfit. In fact, the whole thing kind of looked like it, only skinnier and much, much bigger.

A Blaster-like weapon sprang out of the giant mech's shoulder as it walked towards the brawl. It fired an enormous ink blast, stunning the two fighting Octolings and causing them to direct their attention towards the giant mech.

"What is the meaning of this?" The mech said.

"They were fighting over the leader position of our team!" an Octoling yelled out. The mech glared at them. The torso and head opened and the one controlling it jumped out. It was Octavio, but in humanoid form. He was dressed like a heavily-armored samurai, somewhat similar to his giant exo-suit but not as heavily armored. He seemed like he was in his early 30s even though he was nearly 100 years old. He was twice the size of a normal Octoling, towering over them.

"Get back to work! All of you! These two are mine!" He grabbed them by their throats and lifted them upwards. "You two...STOP FIGHTING AMONG YOURSELVES! WE HAVE A MISSION TO COMPLETE!" He slammed them down and hopped into his mech again. As it closed up, he said, "Remember, this will all be worth it in the end." The video ended.

"What in the name of-?!" said Nathan as he stood up. "This is more severe than I thought. When I find Octavio...I'm gonna make him pay! I'll kill him if I have to!"

"We all want to kill him!" said Diana, "Abigail, how many Inkling have died so far?"

"At least a hundred," she answered.

Diana's rage grew. "Everyone! We have to stop him, NOW!"

"Yeah!" said Nathan, "But first we have to find him and get rid of those other bosses and even Nero!"

"Me and Abigail will work on some technology and equipment," said Smith.

"And I managed to snag this," Abigail as she held the second Boss Key in her hands and tossed it to Nathan. "The kettle leads to Tentatek Stadium."

"Tentatek Stadium?!" said Nathan.

"That's the home field of the football team, the Inkopolis Tentacles!" said Diana.

"The Octarians must be preparing a raid there. We need to hurry!"

"Nathan, Diana, Elite Five, and Agents 1 and 2!" Cuttlefish said, "I'm trusting you to stop that raid!"

"You can count on us!" said Jessica.

"Abigail, I'm wondering...why does Octavio look so young?"

"It's a special device. It can turn an Inkling or Octoling younger or older, but what it's usually used for is for turning Inklings into Octolings that are loyal to Octavio!"

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled.

"...I want to see that device," said Cuttlefish, "As the captain...I need to join the fray. Take me to it!"

"What?! Sir, are you mad?!" Smith said.

"No, I understand," said Abigail, "I can sneak you to it. I'll get you revitalized!"

"Alright," said Nathan, "Is everyone ready?!"

"Yeah!" yelled Nathan's team.

"Alright team! Let's move out! Quickly!" The team headed right for the kettle, equipping armor and weapons, and entered.


	21. Chapter 21: Stadium Showdown

The team arrived at Tentatek Stadium just a few minutes into the second quarter of a game. They simply stood atop the edge of the stadium, looking around for Octarians and keeping an eye on the game to check for anything suspicious. They had all changed their color to yellow for the battle.

"So...we get to watch a football game for free?" David said.

"No," said Nathan, "We're here to keep watch. The staff know we're here thanks to Smith."

"David's always like that," said Sarah teasingly, "He's always lookin' for the easy way."

"I do NOT!" David said angrily as he pointed his Heavy Splatling gun at Sarah.

"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy, dude!" Tony said.

"Quiet please!" said Agent 1, "I'm trying to watch the game!"

"Cal- Uh-! I mean...Agent 1," said Agent 2, "Focus on the mission!"

"Aww...but the Tentacles are kickin' the Seahorses' butt!"

"It's only been like...28 or 29 minutes into the game!" said Tony, "The Seahorses still got a chance...not that I'm cheering for them obviously. It's only about another minute 'til halftime. I'll bet that's when the Octarians will attack.

"Then let's keep our guard up," said Nathan.

"I hope they hurry up!" said David, "I've been itching to shoot something lately! I'll be satisfied if I get to kick at least a little bit of ass!"

"You like fighting, don't you?" Agent 2 said.

"No, I just really like shooting stuff."

"Nope. You like to fight a lot," said Sarah.

"Urgh...I will freakin' slam you in the back of the head with my Splatling if you don't-"

"GUYS!" Diana scolded, "Be quiet and keep watch! They could break into this stadium any minute."

"While we wait...why is this place called 'Tentatek Stadium'? Doesn't Tentatek make tennis gear?"

"Well yeah...but, Tentatek donated a lot of money to help the stadium's construction, and they sponsor the Tentacles, too. I would've expected Forge to do it, since they manufacture the Tentacles' helmets, but Tentatek beat 'em to it, I guess."

"Hey, didn't you just move here?!" said Agent 2, "How do you know this?!"

"I've been into sports for a while now besides Turf War. I've played tennis, basketball, and I've also attended a few gymnastics classes as well. I remember watching the Tentacles with my dad all the time!"

"So you're an athletic gal, huh?" Jason said as the game's 2nd quarter ended.

Diana grinned. "Yep, pretty much!

"You're also quite a bold girl!" said Nathan said, "Never seen you go a single match without charging right into the action!"

"Hehe...true!"

Nathan chuckled. "Well...anyway, back to-" Suddenly, a loud crash was heard. The entire stadium silenced. The team of agents and the Elite Five looked around but saw no damage, but everyone was looking around to see where the sound came from. Suddenly, another crashing sound was heard, only louder.

"They're here..." Nathan whispered.

Suddenly, a giant machine carrying several Octolings, including Edith and Nero, burst into the stadium. It was a giant tank, equipped with ink blasters, an Inkstrike launcher, and multiple other weapons. It fired frantically, aimlessly shooting random areas. Most Inklings all over the stadium fled, including the players, but some grabbed weapons and tried to fight back.

"Looks like it's time to roll out!" Nathan said as he and his team jumped down to fight the Octarian forces. Octolings fired at the team, who relentlessly headed for them and avoided their every shot. The team rushed into battle, with David firing an Inkstrike he had charged up earlier to get rid of the first dozen Octolings.

"Yeah!" yelled David, "Eat ink, ya stupid octopi!"

"Let's go! Let's go!" Diana yelled.

"Don't let 'em kill anyone!" Jason said.

"The tank is ours!" Nathan said alongside Diana, "The rest of you make sure the Octolings don't hurt any Inklings! They've already taken too many!" The two charged at the tank, which fired at them. However, Nathan and Diana managed not to get hit by any major shots.

"Nathan!" Diana yelled, "Boost me up to the top! I'm gonna see who's controlling that thing!"

"Gotcha, Diana!" Nathan and Diana got into position, and Nathan launched Diana upwards and forwards, and she managed to land right on the cockpit. She saw Edith controlling the machine, with Nero behind her.

"You!" Edith said. "Nero, may I?"

"Of course you may, Edith," said Nero, "Activate the Ravenous Octomaw 2.0!"

"With pleasure!" Edith slammed a huge red button and the tank began to shake. It hopped up, launching Diana right off. Octarian ink started a huge area around the tank, and Diana quickly retreated alongside others to get out of the way. The tank began to seemingly transform into something, but quickly submerged itself into the massive ink puddle, which was at least 75 feet in diameter.

A fin showed emerged and headed towards Diana before she knew it, a giant robotic shark-like machine leaped out of the ink and flew over Diana, landing in a ink puddle created by the machine as it descended. It was the second New Great Octoweapon, called the Octomaw 2.0, named after the first Octomaw that fought Agent 3 two years ago, which was fish-like. Edith controlled it inside.

"A shark?! Really?!" Diana exclaimed, "Well...here we go, I guess!" The shark's teeth appeared, creating a "fence" of teeth around Diana. "What?! Uh-Ummm..." She fired at one of the teeth, destroying it. She jumped out of the fence just as the Octomaw snapped its mouth shut in an attempt to crush Diana inside the mouth.

"Okay...um...Maybe the teeth should be destroyed?" The shark showed its head, smiling and laughing at Diana as she fired at the teeth.

"Ha ha ha!" Edith taunted, "Destroying the teeth will do nothing! Looks like Inking is on the menu tonight!"

"Oh yeah?!" Diana said as she noticed a slot in the mouth. She then had an idea. "What about Splat Bomb instead?!" She tossed a Splat Bomb into the mouth after she destroyed enough teeth to provide an opening. The bomb landed in the slot and the shark was stunned. The tentacle appeared out of the slot as the mouth and Diana fired at it. Once it was destroyed and regenerated, the Octomaw submerged into the ink. After a little bit, it jumped out very high into the air.

"Stupid little squid girl!" Edith yelled as the Octomaw activated one of its new features. Four monster truck wheels sprouted from the sides of the machine. The machine came down hard as it regenerated stronger purple teeth and chomped away at Diana as Edith drove it around.

"What the-?!" Diana exclaimed, "Since when does a shark grow wheels?! You made a shark/car hybrid?!"

"Doesn't matter! It makes it much more deadly! I'll turn you into squid soup!"

"Not on my watch! You still haven't payed for what you did earlier!"

"Oh who cares if you die or not?!"

"WHAT?! You hold no regard for life, Edith! And you're not gonna get away with this! None of you are!"

"We'll see about that!" The Octomaw chomped at Diana as it fired from its blasters. Diana evaded the attack thanks to her incredible agility, and she managed to take out one of the blasters. "You tiny little hipster!" The Octomav spun around, slamming Diana with its tail, launching her across the stadium. "Time for a little game I call...HIT 'N RUN!"

The Octomav raced towards her on its four wheels, charging at her like a speeding bullet train. Diana managed to rolled out of the way of the behemoth just as the wheel was about to flatten her like a pancake.

"Ah dammit! Missed!" said Edith. She turned around and tried to squash Diana again. Diana took out her extra weapon that she brought, her E-liter 3K Scope, and aimed for the teeth. Managing to destroy three of them, she dodged out of the way again, narrowly avoiding being crushed.

"Oh for the love of-!" Edith tried to crush her once more, but again failed as Diana threw a Splat Bomb through the new opening in the teeth, stunning the beast again, causing it to stop as the tentacle appeared once again.

"I got this one!" Nathan said.

"Go for it!" Diana replied. Nathan slammed the tentacle with his Hero Roller, destroying it as the third tentacle appeared and entered the machine.

"URGH!" Edith yelled, "THAT'S IT!" Slammed a large purple button, and small but very sharp spikes appeared on the wheels, including the treads of the tires and the sides. The Octomaw's teeth regenerated, this time as super-strong reinforced golden teeth. The eyes glowed red and it went on a rampage. "I'LL KILL YA, ORANGE GIRL!"

"Not on my watch!" Nathan yelled.

"You stay out of this!" Edith yelled as she had the Octomaw tail-slap Nathan, launching him right into a puddle of Octo ink.

"Urgh...gross!" Nathan tried to stand up, but not being his own color ink, or Inkling ink at all really, he was more or less stuck. Other teammates rushed over to free him while Diana continued her brawl with Edith's monster of a machine. As it rode, the wheels left tracks of Octarian ink. It was insanely fast now, like a race car.

"Drat!" Diana said, "That thing's not gonna just stop!"

"You're right, it won't!" Edith yelled, "But the shark's getting awfully HUNGRY! It'll chew right through your flesh!"

"Abigail was right! You HAVE gotten more violent! But you're the most violent Octoling I've ever seen, Edith!"

"Yeah...and I like that! But what I REALLY want it to paint this big guy! And I'll use your ink to do so, and I'll decorate it with your blood!"

"I won't let myself be defeated so easily, Edith!" Diana charged at the beast, firing her charger at the teeth, damaging them.

"Ya know, screw this!" yelled Edith, "I'm returning to the ink!" The Octomav jumped back into the large ink pond. Diana fired a trail of ink she could stand on and looked around. Most of the stadium had evacuated and more agents from the New Squidbeak Splatoon and even the police arrived. As agents entered to aid the team with the attacking Octolings, Jason and Tony had freed Nathan.

"Where's Diana?" Nathan asked.

"Over there!" said Agent 1.

"Come on out, ya big shark!" Diana said. The shark machine's fin appeared swimming towards her. Making a fence of teeth around her again, she destroyed two teeth and quickly escaped. The shark then fired its teeth like rockets, submerging into the ink for safety. The teeth revealed ink shooters in them and fired at Diana.

Diana quickly destroyed about four of the teeth, but when the remaining teeth returned to the Octomaw, there was still no clear shot.

"She needs my help!" Nathan said as he rushed over towards the brawl. Agents 1 and 2 noticed.

"Should we join 'em?" Agent 1 asked.

"Yeah, we should probably help 'em out," said Agent 2.

"Think we can reveal ourselves now? I've been dying to!"

"I'm getting tired of being called Agent 2 by now...I guess so!" Both agents rushed over to the battle. Diana kept firing even as the Octomaw jumped out of the ink puddle and returned to the wheels. It tail-slapped Diana, launching her a few yards away. Just as the monster prepared to chomp on her, Nathan appeared and slammed the incoming teeth with his roller.

"Hey, metal shark!" yelled Agent 2 and she and Agent 1 revealed their true identities, with Agent 1 removing her hat and shades and Agent 2 removing her facemask and visor. Everyone was surprised to see that Agent 1 and Agent 2 were actually the infamous Squid Sisters, with Agent 1 being Callie and Agent 2 being Marie.

"Get ready to feel some pain!" yelled Callie as she slammed the teeth with her roller and Marie fired at the machine's eye with her charger.

"I knew it!" said Nathan, "I knew you were the Squid Sisters! Also, nice shot!"

"Now to take this thing out!" said Diana as she threw two Burst Bombs to get rid of some teeth.

"I got this next part!" said Marie as she threw a Splat Bomb into Octomaw's mouth, stunning it again.

"The final bow is mine!" Diana said.

"You go for it!" Nathan said. Diana super-jumped upwards very high, turning into humanoid form in midair. She charged up her E-liter and fired a direct shot at the tentacle, destroying it and finally defeating the massive monstrosity.


	22. Chapter 22: Encounter with the King

"NO! NO! NOOO!" yelled Edith as the Octomaw shined as it prepared to explode.

"URGH! Forgot this!" said Nero, "We're outta here!" He summoned a small aircraft as he and Edith hopped inside and flew away.

"She's gonna blow!" said Nathan as he and the others took cover as the machine exploded, covering the surrounding area, almost the stadium's entire field, in yellow ink.

"Yeah!" yelled Jason.

Diana smiled, proud of herself. "Fight 'til the end..." she said, "That's what I'm gonna do."

"Never give up," Nathan added, "That's the spirit of a true hero."

"Sounds like you, Nathan!"

"I'll admit, Diana did good!" said Callie, "But together, just imagine! As one, you'd be like...invincible! Like me and Marie!"

"Uh...no, we're NOT invincible together," Marie said. Callie frowned.

"Don't feel so down about it, girl!" said Jessica, "Even I and the rest Elite Five together aren't invincible."

"Yeah, some of our greatest defeats are the most embarrassing ones." Tony said, chuckling.

"Yeah," said Nathan, "I wouldn't call me and Diana invincible together, but we would probably be a very good team."

"I'll say!" said Diana, "Hey, remember back on the first day of Turf War Training Camp when I had to snipe a guy because you weren't paying attention and tripped. I remember how I was chuckling when you said 'Y-You didn't need to help me, ya know...' Hehe...good times."

"Hehe...I'll admit, that was embarrassing, especially considering my progress nowadays."

"Yeah! You really-" Suddenly a loud bang was heard as something blasted the entrance to the stadium. Everyone stopped to look at the massive hole now created. Many agents hid in the stands, with Nathan and his team being the only ones who really stayed. Octavio's mech came walking towards them through the newly-created hole in the stadium.

"Oh no!" said Diana, "Not him!" A blaster appeared on the machine's shoulder in mere seconds. It fired, landing a few feet in front of Nathan and Diana, launching them back a small distance. Nathan just barely managed to land on his feet. Octavio firing again, this time a direct hit right in front of Nathan, launching him backwards again, this time much farther.

"Nathan!" Diana yelled. She immediately sent a distress call to HQ. Octavio continued to walk casually towards Nathan, retracting the blaster. The Elite Four and Squid Sisters were so shocked they could barely move. Diana tried to get up and run towards Nathan, but her previous battle left her very tired and she didn't get far. What was most shocking was that the mech wasn't slowed down by the yellow ink.

When the mech reached Nathan, it simply knelt down in front of him, glaring at him. "I feel sorry for you, Nathan," said Octavio from inside the machine, "You try so hard to save the world, but you know that we will earn the victory."

"Why are you here?!" Nathan said, weakened.

"What do you think I'm doing here? You think I'd fight you in such a weakened state? No. I'm vicious, but not dishonorable. I came here to see you suffer, but Edith couldn't take you guys down this time."

"You came here just to see the battle?"

"No. I came to see you SUFFER! Edith failed to do so, so I took it into my own hands and fired. Besides, I'm looking for Abigail. She knows better than to betray us."

"Sorry, she ain't here!"

"Yeah!" yelled David, "Go to hell ya stupid oct-" He was interrupted when a Burst Bomb exploded in his face, thrown by Octavio.

"Quiet!" he scolded, "Nathan. I'm in no mood to fight right now. You're lucky. I'll let you go this time. A powerful warrior such as yourself deserves to be fought later. It is simply too early now."

"What do you mean?!" Nathan said as he tried to stand up, bring himself up to his knees.

"I'm not just a former DJ and a king, I'm a samurai too, and samurai fight with honor! And besides, nothin' is more sick than a DJ Samurai! I'll be seeing you again soon. But I warn you, you will not succeed in defeating us." Octavio, still inside the mech, stood up and walked away. A few moments later, the mech activated jet boosters inside its feet, flying away. Nathan finally stood up.

"Oh ow..." he said, clutching his stomach, as that is where the second blast had mostly hit him. He was winded, but still standing strong.

"Nathan!" said Diana as she got up again and rushed for Nathan. By the time she reached him, she was out of breath. Her heart was pounding from the exercise. "A-Are...Are you...alright?" she said in between heavy breaths.

"I'm fine. It was quite a blow, but it's nothing too major, thankfully. But what about you? You look wiped out!"

"I...I'm fine!"

"Diana, don't you remember what I said? Don't overexert yourself too much."

"I know! But I had to...this time! I didn't know if...you were okay...or not! I...I had to check!"

"...I see."

"I...I can get back to-" Diana coughed as she gasped for breath.

"I think now might be a good time to head back. What time is it?"

"It's about noon," said Smith over the headset, "She shouldn't be walking for a little bit until she regains her strength.

"Hmm...what do we do then?"

"You could carry her," said Jason. Nathan and Diana looked at him, blushing.

"Alright. It's a good thing I'm a roller user, carrying that thing around really gives ya some strength!" Nathan picked up Diana and the team left, with Diana in Nathan's arms.

"Hehe! You're blushing this time!" Diana said, still trying to recover her breath.

"Wha-" Nathan said, "Uh- Y-You're blushing too, ya know!"

"I am? Well uh- Oh-"

"Heh heh...don't worry 'bout it, it's alright." When the team, alongside all the other agents who had been in the fight, arrived at HQ, Smith was mentoring Abigail and Cuttlefish as they traveled to the device Abby had talked about. He greeted everyone, making sure they were okay. He chuckled when he saw Nathan carrying Diana.

Heh heh, aren't you two cute together," he said teasingly.

"Uh...we're just friends," said Diana, "I think..." He looked to Nathan, blushing, "I've caught my breath now, you can put me down."

"Oh! Sorry!" said Nathan as he gently put Diana down.

"No worries, I'm good!"

"So, how's Abby and Cuttlefish?"

"They're almost at the device," Smith said, "Abigail? Are you there yet?"

"Just waiting for the guards to leave," said Abigail, "It's in our sights." Abby and Cuttlefish were hiding behind another machine while the device was undergoing maintenance. After a few moments, the guards exited the device's chamber, leaving it unguarded. "Alright, it's save now."

Abigail and Cuttlefish headed for the device, which was a like a giant box with an opening that similar to a garage door. Abigail headed for the controls before saying, "Cuttlefish, I'm not sure if this is a good idea, thinking about it. I have no idea how this thing works, so if something goes wrong-"

"...It's worth a shot. I have to help me buckos!" Cuttlefish replied.

"...Okay...here goes nothing I guess."

"Will it work?" Smith said.

"I don't know... It-" There was static.

"Wh-What's going on?"

"Th_ con_ec_ion! So_thing's infe_ring wi_ i_!"

"I can't see a video!"

"W_ mu_t _e too f_r undergro_nd..."

"I'll have to cancel the call. I hope that machine works correctly!"

"I h_pe so t_o. I'll h_pe_ul_y s_e _u so_n!"

"Smith out." He ended the call.

"...I hope Cuttlefish survives whatever happens to him," said Nathan.

"Yeah!" said Diana.

"Let's hope. For now, head back to your rest areas. Nathan and Diana, I made new armor for you. It's in your room."

"Thanks," said Nathan as she and Diana headed for their rooms.

"...I wonder..." Diana whispered to herself, "Speaking of survival...should I tell them what happened to me?"

"Hmm?" Nathan said, hearing her.

"Nothing."

"It's about the accident, isn't it?"

"Yeah...said I tell them about it?"

"...It's up to you. If you feel like you should, then do it. Let's just head to our rooms and pick up our new armor for now."

Diana was silent, but quickly turned her mind away from it to focus on reality.


	23. Chapter 23: Inklings Detected

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm SO sorry for the abnormal schedule guys! I'm dealing with some other things at the time as well and it's affected my schedule dramatically. There's also a problem with the cover image I'm trying really hard to fix. I'll try to get things back on track as soon as I can!**_

Nathan and Diana found their new armor sets on the room's cots. Nathan took one look at the cases and took instant interest in the armor. They headed into the changing rooms and tried them on. When they exited and looked at themselves, they were impressed.

"Hm!" Diana said, "Not bad! Not bad at all!" The new armor was more of a suit, but it looked much better than the original. It had metal shoulder guards colored black with faintly glowing blue lights similar to the ones on the headset of the Hero Suit. The safety vest over it was still neon yellow, and a black jacket still underneath. The jacket had special plating inside it now though, providing unseen but great protection.

The jacket beneath the armor also had stripes on the sleeves that were the color of the Inkling's hair/ink. On the back of the safety vest, the New Squidbeak Splatoon symbol, which was also the Cuttlegear logo, was printed. The number "4" was labeled on the left arm of Nathan's jacket, and "5" was label on the left arm of Diana's jacket.

The boots of the suit had plating in them similar to the jacket. They were black had bright yellow soles. The sides of the boots had faintly glowing blue lights as well. The suit's headset and the Hero Watch were no different from the original Hero Suit's versions. The pants were black and had faintly glowing stripes colored blue.

"It's actually much more comfortable!" Diana stated, "And way more fresh!"

"I'm with ya on that!" said Nathan, "This is one good-looking suit!"

"So, the case's booklet said it has some kind of plating inside it to help protect us."

"I'm glad he made that, otherwise I'd never figure out how to put this thing on."

"Yeah, same!"

"It's pretty easy to move in this outfit despite the plating, it's as if it's not there! Pretty impressive!"

"Yeah! It's pretty incredible!"

"So...should we head to the base room and show 'em?"

"I don't see why not!" The two headed for the main room to see Smith with Callie and Marie, which was no surprise. They were searching the supercomputer for something.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked.

"Looking for a file," said Smith.

"We're searching for a photo of blueprints that Agent 21 found," said Callie.

"Agent 21? Now many agents do we have now?"

"About 45 of 'em now, surprisingly!"

"Already?"

"Ever since the stadium was attacked, more Inklings have been joining in, trying to help out," said Smith. "Hmm...Aha! Here it is!" The blueprints appeared on the screen, showing the container's technology. "Take a look at this." Nathan and Diana examined the blueprints carefully.

"That clamp that goes around the torso has needles that sink into the ink sacs of Inklings," Smith explained, "Like a blood draw, it takes in the ink and sends it through those tubes. Something in the machines the containers are placed in absorbs the ink through a sort of device that converts it into power in seconds. I have no idea how though, the blueprints don't explain it."

"Savages," said Diana, "They're just savages!"

"I don't like the look of that container," said Nathan, "It's freaking creepy!"

"That's what I was thinking!" said Callie, "It's just...unforgivable!"

"It's the death I'm most concerned about. They may have stopped kidnapping for now, but they'll start again soon. We have to defeat them as soon as possible!"

"Oddly enough," said Smith, "We found some Inkling readings in the dome this kettle here leads to." He switched the screen to a map and pointed to the first kettle of the third and final area. There were some Inklings doing something down there. I'm not sure what, but they seem to be moving from dome to dome."

"We should probably check it out, then," said Nathan.

"I agree," said Diana.

"Are you sure?" Smith asked, "Even after the Tentatek Stadium Octomaw fight?"

"Of course! I ain't gonna give up yet!"

"Neither am I," said Nathan, "We'll find 'em, and take out any Octarians we encounter in our way."

"...Alright." said Smith, "Me and the Squid Sisters here will keep an eye on ya."

"I just hope we hear from Gramps soon..." said Marie.

"Oh right, Cuttlefish!" Nathan said, "We'll look for him and Abigail, too!"

"Thank you so much!" said Callie.

"Alright then! C'mon, Diana!" The two equipped their weapons and left. Nathan brought a Hero Roller, with a Hero Shot as a secondary weapon. Diana brought a Hero Charger, and also brought a Hero Shot as a secondary weapon. They had their subs: Splat Bombs, Burst Bombs, and Seekers at the ready. The two made their way towards the next kettle, entering without hesitation.

They arrived in the dome, which had a dark gray sky as the backdrop. The pathway was clear, with lit-up straightforward paths. The dome had Octosnipers patrolling the area along with Octolings and normal Octotroopers.

"Pretty standard," said Nathan.

"Yeah," said Diana, "But we should still be careful."

"Take out that sniper over there."

"With pleasure!" Diana took out her charger and fired, taking out the Octosniper.

"Nice shot!"

"Thanks! Now let's go!"

"Right!" Nathan lead the way through the path. He and Diana took out any Octosnipers and Octotroopers that they encountered, looking for any signs of Inklings. As they traveled, they did notice in some large puddles of dark orange, almost golden, ink. This proved that someone else had been through here, and they were clearly not on the Octarian's side.

The two Inklings eventually found a launchpad that lead to a platform in the distance, with six Octolings, two of them being elites. Before using the launchpad, they made sure their Watches were in easy reach in the event that they got overwhelmed. Suddenly, a group of three elites appeared before Nathan and Diana.

"Dammit!" said Nathan.

"Split up! We're stronger now, we can handle 'em!" Diana assured.

"Alright. Lady's choice."

"I've got these three!"

"Okay. Oh, and take this!" Nathan gave Diana two canned specials, a Bubbler and an Inkzooka. "Good luck!"

"You too!" Diana charged into battle as Nathan launched towards the platform that would soon become a battlefield. As he descended, he activated his glider to drop a Splat Bomb down at one of the Octolings. Not noticing, the bomb exploded right in the Octoling's face, knocking him down but not killing him surprisingly.

Retracting the glider, he threw two Burst Bombs, one to the left and another to the right, both of them landing on the faces of Octolings. With them stunned, the others fired at Nathan. He quickly threw another Burst Bomb to splat one of the two stunned Octolings, and splatted the other with his roller.

"Dammit!" said one of the two elites, "He's already splatted two of 'em!"

"Well don't just stand there!" yelled the other elite, "Get him!" The two elites and two other Octolings charged at Nathan. All of them had standard Octoshots except for one, who had an Octobrush instead.

Meanwhile, Diana had just splatted one of Elites she was dealing with using Inkzooka. One of the remaining two was wielding a charger, and the other, who was male, had a Blaster-like weapon. Diana dodged the best she could, managing to get past most shots. She hid in her ink and sneaked up on the male, splatting him with her Hero Shot.

"Oh you little-!" The remaining elite yelled as she tackled Diana into the launchpad. Diana submerged herself into the pad in squid form, launching to Nathan. The elite jumped off and glided over to the platform, following Diana. Diana delivered a blow to an elite's face as she landed, giving Nathan a chance to splat her.

"Oh dammit!" yelled the Octobrush elite as the gliding elite landed.

"Don't worry!" yelled the other elite, "There's four of us and two of them! We can take 'em!"

"Then let's do so!" The Octobrush-wielding elite charged at Nathan, attacking alongside with another Octoling. "You and that guy take care of the girl!"

"On it!" The charger-wielding Octoling fired at Diana, but was unable to hit her due to her agility. "Ugh. Make sure she stays in one spot!"

"Yes, ma'am!" said the normal Octoling. He swam through his ink and surprised Diana, who fired her charger but had it knocked out of her hands by the Octoling. Taking out her secondary weapon and making sure she was always moving to avoid being hit by the Octoling sniper, she fought the normal Octoling as best she could, eventually splatting him.

Nathan was dealing with the Octobrush-wielding Elite Octoling while trying to make sure his partner's shots didn't hit him. The elite was swinging the weapon around like a madman, while Nathan had to hold his roller in front of him to block most the attacks, barely getting a chance to attack himself.

"Do you really like the swordfighting or somethin'?! You swing that thing like a blade!"

"It's the next best thing!" said the Octoling, "The Octobrush is swift and agile, it's close enough to a blade! It's fit for a samurai!"

"You say that like it's a big deal!"

"It is a big deal! It may be weak, but it's strong enough to bring you down!"

"We'll see about that!" Nathan and the Octoling continued brawling as Diana continued dealing with her opponents. She was having a little trouble, but it seemed as if it was much easier compared to her fight with Edith back the first area that left her quite beaten.

"Ha ha! You can't fight forever!" the Octoling sniper taunted, "You'll tire out sooner or later!"

"Then I will intervene!" yelled a voice that came out of nowhere. Everyone stopped to see an Inkling descend downwards. Wielding an Inkbrush Nouveau, he came down right behind the Octoling sniper. His ink color was a goldish yellow color and his eyes were brown. He wore samurai armor and shoes, along with a golden straw hat. Spinning his brush in his hand like helicopter blades, he splatted the sniper in a second.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" he said, "Fellow Inklings, I am here to help!"

"...An Inkbrush Samurai?" said Nathan, "Whatever works, I guess."

"I know who you are, I am the grandson of a friend of Cuttlefish, who told me about you two. I was travelling through this place in search of hostages, and I found him. So, I came to give you some aid!"

"Cuttlefish is alright?!" said Diana.

"Of course he is! Even if that thing had failed, he's survived much worse!"

"Well that increases my morale tremendously!" said Nathan.

"You two seem tired, allow me to make this easier for you. Is that okay?"

"Permission granted!"


	24. Chapter 24: Splatter Samurai

The mysterious samurai Inkling attacked the remaining three Octolings. One of the normal Octolings tried to fire the fallen elite's sniper, but the samurai simply reflected the shot by swinging his Inkbrush. Moving quite fast, swung his Inkbrush like a sword at the Octolings, taking out one of them.

"Get him!" yelled the elite.

"Not gonna be easy, otoko!" the samurai said as he performed a spin attack, splatting another Octoling.

"Wha-?! How can you-?!"

"I've trained my entire life the ancient art of the samurai, a family tradition started by my great-times-something grandfather! I'm faster than the wind and stronger than a shark!" He then looked at the elite straight in the eye, and the Octoling suddenly froze.

"Wha-?! What is this aura?!"

"Oh? Do I strike fear into you? I should. My eyes were built to bring fear to my opponents!" He quickly charged at the elite. "Atama!" He slammed him in the head with his Inkbrush. "Karada!" He then swung at the elite's torso. "Bikyaku!" He swung downwards at the legs, tripping the elite and knocking him down. "Nathan, want to deliver the finishing blow?"

"With pleasure!" said Nathan, "I've been working on this one!" Nathan super-jumped into the air and brought out his roller. As he descended, he did a 1080-degree spin and slammed his roller to the ground as he landed, splatting the elite instantly.

"Whoa...! Nice one, Nathan!" said Diana.

"Thanks!"

"So, you two must be Nathan and Diana, am I not correct?" said the samurai.

"Yeah. But...how did you...you were...Wow..."

"I've been training my whole life to be a samurai, or as I like to call it...a Splatterrai! Heh heh heh! Oh! But of course, I must introduce myself should I? I am deeply sorry for that. The name is Leo!"

"Nice to meet ya, Leo."

"So...you said you saw Cuttlefish?" Diana said, changing the subject.

"Yep! I saw him walk outta that device as a new man...well, he's not new he's been around for like a hundred years, but you know what I mean."

"So it worked?!"

"Yep! The bad news is that it summoned a TON of Octarian forces. But we got 'em! My 'Atama Karada Bikyaku' can be very effective in battle!"

"I saw you use that," said Nathan, "What did those words you were yelling mean?"

"Allow me to explain. 'Atama' means 'head' in a very ancient language. I think it was called something like...'Japanese' or something like that. Anyway, 'Karada' means body, and 'Bikyaku' means legs."

"So that's why you nailed the elite's head when you said 'Atama' and son on! I'll admit you were as fast as lightning though!"

"Yeah, I can thank my shoes for that. Run Speed Up isn't their main ability, but I managed to roll it for both of the extra slots plus an additional one I got thanks to that Spyke dude."

"Spyke?"

"What, you don't know? If you offer Spyke a Super Sea Snail, like the ones you earn at Splatfest, he can re-roll abilities or add more slots to gear. I had him help me with my gear here when I was fourteen. It was too big for me to wear, but my father leveled it up for me. When I was sixteen, I put on this armor and I've worn it since."

"How old are you now?"

"Hmm...About 19. Anyway, I came to bring you back to the Cuttlefish. He's in the dome over there."

"That one?" Nathan pointed towards a tunnel to the east.

"Yep, that's it."

"Well then what are we waiting for?!" said Diana, "Let's go find him!"

"I agree!" said Nathan, "Let's go! Leo, you know the way right?"

"Yes, I do," Leo answered, "I'll lead you towards his location. He said he'd be at the device until I returned. There are more we'd like you to meet, but " Leo lead Nathan and Diana on a path towards the device, cautioning the two that there may be Octarians guarding and that they should be extremely careful.

Leo converted his color to neon yellow along with Nathan and Diana. He lead them towards the entrance to the next dome. Running through the seemingly infinite amount of roads through the dome, they took occasional short break to regain their energy. After a while of running and ink-swimming, the three made it to a tunnel leading to the dome where the device, and Captain Cuttlefish, were.

"This is taking too long!" said Diana, "We need a faster way of travel! If only we had some of Abigail's vehicles."

"If you say so!" yelled a voice as a giant vehicle skidded to a stop in front of the team. It was a strange vehicle, looking much much like a SWAT truck. It was colored black, white, and green. It had ink tanks, three on each side of the vehicle, as well as some blasters and Splatlings. The New Squidbeak Splatoon logo was also on the sides and back of the vehicle. Small windows were placed as well.

"What do ya think?" said Abigail, coming out from a door in the back, "Pretty fresh, huh? I spent days workin' on this! It's kinda like a...box truck and/or a SWAT vehicle. Most of it is like a giant 'box', it's were we can hang out while on the move, but it also has some weapons on the wall for easy access in the event we need them. It's also got some gear on this wall, and the classic first-aid kit is over there as well."

"Wow!" said Nathan, "This...This is incredible! But...where's Cuttlefish?"

"He sent me here to look for you."

"Hey!" said Leo, "I thought he sent ME to do that!"

"He did, but I told 'em it may be a bit better if they rode on wheels. So basically I came to pick you up and speed things up a bit."

"Oh...uh...well then, thanks for the lift, I guess!"

"No problem! Just sit down, I'll take the wheel and get us where we need to go."

Sounds like a plan!" said Diana. Abigail hopped into the driver's seat as Nathan, Diana, and Leo sat in the seats in the "box" area. They were cushioned bench seats, providing some comfort for people sitting on them. The vehicle started moving, heading for the device.

"Hmm...this is surprisingly cozy for a military vehicle!" said Nathan.

"Yeah," said Abigail, "I wanted to make it cozy so soldiers can relax after an intense fight. But not too cozy, so they don't get cocky or anything."

"You definitely succeeded!" said Diana, "I could take a nap on one of these, but still be ready for battle if it was needed!"

"That's what I was aiming for!"

"So...how long will this ride take?"

"Not very long, so don't worry! We'll be there within at least few minutes."


	25. Chapter 25: Meeting with Cuttlefish

As the team rode through the tunnel, the Nathan and Diana had a look around the vehicle. Hero Shots and Hero Chargers were on the right wall, ready for use, and Hero Rollers were in a large metal box over in the corner. Armor cases were placed on a long shelf near the top of the left wall.

"Hey Abby?" said Diana, "What's thing made of?"

"Why do you ask that?" said Abigail.

"I can't tell if it's steel or something else."

"The vehicle has titanium 'armor' on it. But a majority of the vehicle is made of carbon fiber. The tires are designed to be able to move on any terrain, including Octarian ink! The vehicle is basically a heavy-duty all-terrain military truck. Oh, and there's also the weapons on the outside, including an Inkstrike launcher that has to be manned on the roof."

"I didn't see a launcher!"

"You need to activate it. For now, let's head to the device. Cuttlefish should be there."

"But what about the Octarians?" Leo said, "Will we encounter any?"

"We drove 'em out! The dome's under emergency lock-down and it took me a while to find something that would open it. There's an Ultra Vent in there too, but it's closed off. Thankfully there's still ventilation in it, otherwise we'd suffocate!"

"So tell me..." said Nathan, "How does that device work? How does it do...whatever it does?"

"I don't know. It's something mysterious. But we're gonna move it to our base so that after the war, Cuttlefish can go back to normal."

"What?" said Diana, "He wants to go back to normal after this?!"

"Yeah. I was surprised too. He apparently wants to go back to around 80-ish years of age rather than 100-something years. He can be hard to understand sometimes. I guess it's because he knows he won't be as crippled when he reverts back if he goes for 20 years below his original age."

"I see."

"Abigail," said Leo, "Have you found any new relics along the way?"

"Why?" Abby asked.

"I want to make a new weapon, my Inkbrush feels too slow for me."

"You want a sword-like weapon, do you?"

"Of course I do! I'm a samurai! An warrior of ancient talent! Well...I don't NEED it, but it would be fitting."

"You're quick, but a REAL samurai doesn't use ink."

"Ugh! Anata ga, shimasu damare! I can still be a samurai using an ink weapon! I just...want it to be more like a sword!"

"Oh my god...If you want a relic, go to the Ancient Ruins! There's plenty of 'em there!"

"I've been to the Ancient Ruins, I've found everything I could."

"Then just- You know what, we're getting off topic!"

"Sorry lady, I was just wondering if you found something. I didn't mean to cause ya any trouble."

"I think you FIGHT more like a samurai than you act like one."

"It's modern time, okay?!"

"Oh for the love of-" said Diana, "Can we focus on the mission?!"

"That's what I was about to say next. ANYWAY, we're almost at our destination. Just need to make it through this road here and we'll be there." The vehicle exited the other end of the tunnel, following the road towards the device. The dome had no backdrop of the sky, but rather a large, steel inner wall. There was still a giant light on the ceiling illuminating the dome, but there was no sky.

"Wow..." said Nathan, looking out one of the windows, "No backdrops of the sky here...That's a first."

"There are a few more domes like that," said Abigail, "But not very many. Octavio has been working on putting backdrops in every dome, now that the Octarians have gained enough power...in the worst way possible!"

"Speaking of which," said Diana, "How the hell can ink be turned into electricity?"

"Octarian technology is weird. Even I'm not sure. Like the small vehicles that the Octotroopers ride. Have you seen their blueprints? Those things have no engine! I think it's the machines that have the ink-converting technology. The containers' tubes are connected to the machine and...I don't know really."

"But...I thought you built-"

"I specialize in making weapons and vehicles. I have little or no experience with other types of tech. So don't ask me about it, 'cause I do NOT know. I wish I did, but I don't..."

"I wanna know just as much as you do. I don't even know what they want to DO with that power they're making using that ink, besides the Octoweapons and to power up the domes. There has to be more reasons...I know it!" She paused for a moment. "Now that I think of it...I heard a rumor."

"A rumor?" Nathan said.

"Yeah. I heard that a large amount of the power is being put into creating something. The rumor refers to it as...the 'Ultimate Weapon.' And if you ask me, that sounds pretty damn bad."

"Ultimate Weapon? Oh no...those two words make a pretty bad combo."

"Yeah," said Leo, "If it's true, and if lives up to it's name, then it might be a weapon of mass destruction. But then the question is...what form will it come in? A bomb? A mech? A giant blaster?"

"I don't know," Diana said as she stood up, "But I'll be ready when the time comes to fight it."

"...I'll be ready too," said Nathan as he too stood up, "But if the worse is destined to happen..." Diana looked directly at Nathan as he spoke. "...I'll also be prepared to die."

Everyone went wide-eyed. "WHAT?!" Diana yelled, "N-Nathan, what are you saying?!"

"It's a possibly. You never know what will happen in a war. If I do die, at least I'll know I saved at least one life."

"Huh?"

"...Yours."

"...Oh yeah...the...the camp."

"Camp?" said Abby, "What camp? What happened?"

"...I'll explain once we reach Cuttlefish."

"...Okay. Not sure why you'd wait, but whatever makes you feel better."

Nathan sat down, with Diana sitting down right next to him. She felt funny inside, she didn't know if what she was feeling was regret or something else. Could it be a feeling related to Nathan in some way? She was very silent, unsure of what she was feeling. Whatever it was, it was an emotion she had never felt before. She thought to herself, could it be love, possibly for Nathan? She suddenly snapped out of it when the vehicle came to a halt a few minutes later.

"Wha- Are we here?" Diana asked.

"Yep!" said Abby, "This is it! Smith said he was sending a vehicle to pick up the device, so he should be here shortly."

"Alright then," said Nathan as he and the others exit the vehicle. A big device that looked like a steel box was there, with a control panel outside. A much larger version of the device, built for multiple people to enter, was a few feet away from the smaller one.

"I thought there was one device!" said Leo.

"This a 'miniature' version of that big device," said Abby, "The big one is built for multiple organisms, in the Octarian's case Inklings. The smaller one is for one individual. It's a prototype, but it works perfectly!"

"You're finally here!" said a voice. The team was greeted by a tall, muscular man. His clothes were quite torn, but not to the point of were it wasn't clothing at all. He wore jean shorts and and a very torn-up shirt. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was, it was a revitalized Captain Cuttlefish.

"Whoa!" said Diana.

"Yep, it's me buckos!" said Cuttlefish, "Ah! It feels so good to be able to fight on the battlefield again! Now I can help ya! Ha ha!"  
"Is that why you came here?"

"Yep! That's the reason!"

Just then, Smith arrived in a large box truck along with about five other agents. "I'm here!" he said. "Whoa! Whoa-ho-ho! Captain, you're..."

"Revitalized! I know! I feel reborn! Ha ha! But uh...I probably should calm down..."

"Ha ha! It's alright, you can go nuts!" Smith turned to the agents who came with him. "I want you five to help me get this device.

"THAT BIG GIANT THING?!" yelled an agent.

"No! The small one, ya idiot!"

"Oh..." Smith and the other five worked to get it into the box trick.

"So...Abby?" said Nathan, "The device doesn't have any other effects, right?"

"Nope!" said Abigail, "Just the ability to turn someone younger or older. The big can turn Inklings into Octolings, but not the smaller one."

"Can the big one do vice versa?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Drat..."

Smith's team finally finished putting the device into the truck. After locking it down with restraints, Smith told his squadmates, "I'm gonna go with these guys back to base. You guys drive the truck back. Agent 36 is at the wheel, since your the only one I can trust at the wheel."

"Yes, Smith!" said the agents as they got in the vehicle and drove back. Smith walked up to Cuttlefish.

"...We may need to...get you some new clothes though, Cap'n..."

"Oh right! I'll keep these for when I get back to normal once this is all finished, but I could use some new gear."

"I'll make some for you back at base."

"Thank you kindly! I'll be on the battlefield on occasion, but I'll still be supporting you guys from HQ. I'll enter the fray in an emergency or in a VERY important situation!"

"Sounds good," said Nathan, "Let's head back."

"Wait!" said Diana.

"What is it?"

"...I...I feel like I need to tell you something."

"The incident?"

"Why do you want to tell us?" said Leo.

"...I feel...I think you'll understand why I'm close to Nathan a lot. And it may give you a better understanding of me in some way. I don't know. I just...I feel like I HAVE to say something about it!"

"If that's what you want to do, do it," said Nathan, "It might be a good idea to do so. I think you'll feel better after talking about it. And it was an important part of your life."

"Yeah."

"Is this that camp thing you were talking about?" Leo asked.

"Yes."

"Alright then, kid," said Cuttlefish, "Tell us what happened. Even if it doesn't help us in the war or in any other way, if you feel it's important...tell us about it."

"There shouldn't be anymore Octarians in this area. It's still under lock-down, so don't worry about that," said Abigail.

"Okay..." said Diana as she took a deep breath. She looked to Nathan, who nodded. "Alright...here's what happened..."


	26. Chapter 26: The Great Fire

_**15 Months Ago...**_

"Ha ha! You did good!" said a fourteen-year-old Diana.

"I'm surprised I made it to the Top 5 board in only two weeks of coming here!" replied a fourteen-year-old Nathan.

"I like it here! We'll have a head-start in Turf War 101 when school starts soon!"

"Yep!" Nathan and Diana were at Turf War Training Camp, a summer camp designed to give training Inklings a head-start on the art of Turf War, as the name implied. The two were sitting at a table in the camp's main building, a large log cabin-like structure.

They were on the second floor specifically in the cafeteria. The two were resting after a training match, as they themselves requested that they take a break to recover. A counselor had gone up to watch them, but had to leave when she was called down. Everyone else was outside, practicing on Camp Triggerfish, the nearby stage.

"So...what do you think about Turf War?" Diana asked.

"Great!" said Nathan, "It's super fun! I know that once I'm older I'll probably quit, like a lot of Inklings do. But it's so fun that I heard there's a more intense or professional version of it that older people play, but I'm sure."

"Really?"

"Some older Inklings DO still play Turf War. The oldest player in history was 23 when he retired, even though Turf War is a sport made for Inklings ages 14 to 19."

"Huh...I never knew that!

"I know. But you know, I wonder what our future has in store! Maybe one of us will be the next Champion! That would be quite a sight!

"You should try it when you get skilled enough!"

"Hmm...I'll think about it, but now's not the time, I'm only a trainee at the moment!"

"Oh right...Hey, remember that time when we-" Diana was interrupted when he heard a bang from upstairs and smelled something funny. "D-Did you hear that?"

"Yeah...sounded like a...a...I don't know really."

"I think it might-...Ugh! Do you smell that?!"

"...Oh yeah...That smell I might know..." They suddenly heard screaming from outside. They saw some of students were pointing at the building towards the third floor, but Nathan and Diana were unable to see what was going on at first. They looked through the window to see a thick gray cloud rise into the air.

"Is that...smoke?!"

"Diana...I think there might be a-" Suddenly, a fire alarm started blaring loudly. "Fire!" The smoke started traveling through the windows and into the room. Diana was frozen in fear, she had never been in this kind of situation before. "Diana, c'mon!" She snapped out of it and ran towards the door with Nathan.

Areas of the ceiling started to give way, dropping not just debris but flames as well. Fire was around the area within seconds, and while they started small they quickly grew larger. Nathan was scared, but being courageous he barely showed a speck of fear in his face.

Diana, on the other hand, was downright terrified. Her body was consumed by fear completely, and she could do nothing but stand there in horror. Nathan had to grab her arm to get her moving. Fire and smoke quickly consumed the room, lowering their visibility dramatically.

They could hear people screaming outside. Some of the kids were yelling Nathan and Diana's names in between sobs while the other kids were simply crying. Adults were panicking too, some of them trying to keep both the kids and themselves calm. One counselor was screaming into her phone, calling the fire department and hospital.

"I can't believe this is happening..." Nathan thought to himself before yelling, "We gotta find the door!"

"B-But...there's so much smoke I can't see anything!" Diana replied as she covered her mouth in an attempt to prevent the smoke from entering her lungs.

"Uh...don't worry! We'll find it!" Nathan looked around, searching for the doorway downstairs, where the exit was. The emergency exit was blocked by flames, and was thus inaccessible. Finally, he spotted it. "Over there! Hurry!" He ran over to the door with Diana by his side. But just when it seemed they had a chance of escape, the ceiling collapsed in front of it, and flames quickly engulfed it.

"NOOO!" yelled Diana. Suddenly, the floor gave way, getting them to the first floor, but not very safely. Flames began quickly consuming the room as the ceiling collapsed more and more, blocking the front door.

"Oh COME ON!" yelled Nathan as he and Diana looked for another exit. There were three other doors, but one by one they were either consumed in fire or blocked off somehow. Eventually, flames were everywhere, and Diana panicked. She tripped over something and landed right by a flame. She screamed and quickly got up, but her short sleeve shirt caught fire in the flame.

She quickly put it out, lifting her sleeve to make sure it did no skin damage on her arm. A small piece of flaming debris dropped from above, landing on her shoulder. She screamed in pain as a small flame developed on her shoulder, burning her flesh. Nathan intervened and quickly put out the flame, but it was too late to prevent a wound. Nathan looked around frantically, returning to his search for a way out. In all the commotion, Diana and Nathan were seperated in the thick smoke.

"Nathan?! NATHAN?!" Diana yelled. She heard a faint yell but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. She looked around, covering her mouth to try and prevent herself from breathing in too much smoke. She was cornered in a corner of the room, next to a large glass window.

Diana was so terrified that her mind drew a blank on what to do. She couldn't see Nathan or anything else, and the flames slowly came closer to her. She held her breath, scared to death. She knew that death was certain, her time was up. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see herself burn alive in the inferno. She would not be able to take the sight.

"DIANA!" yelled a voice. It was Nathan, still alive with his clothes and face were covered in ash. He rushed towards Diana, avoiding the flames as best as he could. He knew there was only one way out that wasn't blocked off, the large window Diana stood near.

Wrapping his arms around Diana, Nathan rammed into the large glass window with his body, taking the full force of the blow, breaking out of the burning building. Glass shards cut both of them, Nathan especially, but Nathan ignored the pain. Coughing, he and Diana quickly ran away.

"Nathan!" Diana said, "You- You're alr-" Suddenly, a huge explosion occurred in the building, blowing out all the windows and knocking the two to the ground.

"Diana!" yelled Nathan, "Are you okay?!"

"No!" Diana screamed, "I have a burn on my shoulder and it hurts really really bad!"

"Uh..." He quickly noticed an ambulance. "HEY! OVER HERE!" He yelled, waving his arms. Firefighters and medics quickly noticed them and rushed to their aid. Nathan got up, noticing blood dripping down his face and arm. He took the full blow of the glass while ramming it, and glass shards had cut him on his face, back, and arms, as well as a few on his legs.

Diana had far less cuts, since Nathan's body had protected her, but still had noticeable ones on her face and torso. Three medics arrived quickly, two of them examined Diana while another tended to Nathan.

"I got an injured child here, a female of what seems to be about fourteen years old! She's got minor cuts and a second-degree burn on her shoulder, possibly even third-degree." said one of them into his radio. "I also get a fourteen-year-old male over here who's covered in cuts."

"Hey kid," said another medic to Nathan, "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Nathan in between coughs, "But she's not!" Nathan rushed over to Diana, who was clutching her shoulder in pain.

"It's a small area," said another medic, "It's linear, like a wide cut or scrape. But it's deep and she seems to be in massive pain. We need an ambulance bed! Get one over here stat!"

"Is she going to be okay?!" Nathan said.

"It's a deep burn, but she should recover within a month or two. It seems to be second-degree, but might be third. What happened in there?"

"I...I don't know! We heard a bang and then the alarm went off and then BOOM! A whole bunch of fire showed up! A small piece of flaming debris hit her shoulder while she was looking at it. I put the flames out with a towel I spotted...I'm surprised it's not worse!"

"She should recover. What are your names?"

"I'm Nathan, and she's Diana!"

"Thank you. Diana, are you gonna be alright?"

"It hurts really bad! BBut...But I can take it!"

"You can take it?"

"Yeah, I'll pull through!"

"Diana, take it easy!" said Nathan. A medic with an ambulance bed just arrived.

"She's stable," said the medic by Nathan, "But we'll take her to the hospital to care for that wound!"

"Can I go, too?" said Nathan, "I want to make sure she's okay."

"Of course you can, kid. There aren't any rule saying you can't. We'll give ya some bandages for those cuts, too. You can ride with us in the ambulance."

"Fine with me!" Diana was placed on the bed and put in the ambulance. Nathan sat inside next to the bed as it drove away from the building, where the fire was now nearly put out. Nathan was silent, he didn't know what to think about the events. He had saved a life that day. He was only fourteen, yet he had just become a hero.

"Nathan..." Diana said quietly.

"Yeah?" Nathan replied, "You okay?"

"Yeah...I'll pull through despite the pain. I...I owe you my LIFE for saving me back there. I would've broken through myself, but I was so scared and afraid I was gonna die that I never thought about it."

"You owe me nothing, Diana. I was just...following my gut. I heard you scream and...I had to spring into action. I couldn't let that fire take a life."

"..."

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything. What's important is that no one died in the fire."

"Yeah. I wonder what caused it..."

"We'll find out soon, don't you worry."

"...Nathan?"

"Yes?"

"From this day forward, I vow I will be strong! No matter what happens!"

"Now that's what I'm taking about! That's the bold spirit I know!"

"Ha ha! Yep! You're the brave one though, Nathan!"


	27. Chapter 27: Deeper Feelings

_**Present Day...**_

"So that's what happened?" said Smith, "A fire broke out?"

"Yep, pretty much," said Diana, "It was later discovered that the inferno was caused due to someone carelessly leaving the stove on. It's believed that some wind from an open window blew paper or something into it. It caught fire and that fire quickly spread to the walls and the roof and yeah..."

"Talk about carelessness!" said Abigail.

"I was in a few situations like that myself in the past," said Cuttlefish, "Carelessness that leads to disaster was more common then one would like to think."

"After the fire though, our lives didn't really change very much," said Nathan, "We both had quite a few wounds, but they healed up eventually."

"That shoulder burn left a nasty scar though," said Diana, "Look." She rolled up her sleeve to expose her elbow, revealing a scar on her shoulder. It was a patch of off-colored skin, very pale, especially when compared to the rest of her skin.

"Wow..." said Smith, "That's kinda big..."

"Yeah, but it's not much. I can easily cover it with a short or long sleeve shirt or jacket. But, I don't care in all honesty. It's a permanent reminder, but I guess I'm okay with it." She rolled her sleeve back down.

"So, do you feel better now that you've talked about the incident?" asked Abigail.

"Yeah, actually. I didn't expect that to happen, but I guess I do feel better. But anyway, now that I've talked about that, I want to focus on the task at hand, the last Boss Key and Octavio."

"Oh right!" said Nathan, "We need to focus on that!"

"So what are we gonna do?" said Leo, "Me and my Inkbrush are itching for a fight!"

"Well first, we need to find out WHO we need to fight," said Diana, "And I'm pretty sure that it's gonna be that Commander Nero guy."

"I think Nero's gonna fight us second to last before Octavio," said Abigail, "Or he'll fight alongside him. I think Edith's gonna take the next one, just like last time. But she'll put more of a fight this time, though. One of my squadmates did some recon the other day. She said she saw Edith developing a new weapon, TWO of them actually."

"What were they?" Nathan asked.

"One of them was the the third Octoweapon, which she's helping with, and the other was something she couldn't really see. But I have a feeling we'll find out soon."

"So should we head back to base or what?" Diana asked.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," said Cuttlefish, "I need new clothes anyway, heh heh..."

"It might be a good idea to destroy that big machine, though!" Smith said, "So they can't turn anymore Inklings into Octarians!"

"Oh yeah! That would be a good idea!" said Diana.

"How do we do it, though?!" said Leo, "This thing is damn huge!

"Uh...I wish we could use less drastic measures, but we're gonna need to blow this thing up!" said Smith.

"But we don't have any TNT! Only ink bombs!" said Nathan.

"Well...the Octarians seem to have some...emergency stashes..."

"What?"

"Over here!" Smith pointed to a box full of TNT.

"Oh my-!" said Diana.

"I'll set them off, then we'll have a minutes to get away," said Abigail, "The blast shouldn't be too big if we set it off INSIDE the machine." Abigail leaded the TNT crate inside the device, lighting the very long fuse from next to the vehicle she and the other used to get down to the dome. "Alright! Fuse is lit! Let's get the hell outta here!"

The team got into Abigail's vehicle, which the team decided to name the Splat Truck, and drove away to a special path that the truck could use to get back above ground. They heard the explosion of the TNT destroying the device in the distance. The group talked about the Octarians' plans during the ride, getting back to the topic at hand. Many of them had a slightly different look on Nathan and Diana now that they knew about the fire, and Cuttlefish embraced them for their bravery. He was glad to have them as agents.

The truck pulled up on a steel platform. A large vent above them opened up and the platform was raised upwards like an elevator. Eventually, the elevator stopped and the truck drove towards HQ on a newly constructed road that Smith had worked on for the past two years. The Splat Truck pulled up next to the house.

"Me and Smith will be up here constructing a garage-like area," said Abigail as she exited the vehicle, "We're gonna build something like an elevator to the storage room in HQ. We're gonna be turning it into a garage for the vehicles we're developing.

"Okay," said Cuttlefish as he and the rest of the group heading down to HQ. They were greeted by multiple agents, including the Squid Sisters and the Elite Five. They were all shocked by Cuttlefish's new appearance. They all looked at him. Cuttlefish left the room to loo for some new gear, with his granddaughters following him. Nathan was surprised to see that about fifty agents had now joined the Splatoon. It was practically like an army now.

Nathan and Diana took off their armor, changing to their normal everyday outfits like most of the other agents. In their rest area, they had a well-deserved break. In one day they had met the Elite Five, discovered the Octarians' intentions, teamed up with a Octoling squad rebelling against their own kind, fought a robotic shark on wheels, encountered Octavio, meet a samurai, and revitalized Cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish promised them no more missions, for real this time, as it was now 3:00 PM and had been doing missions nearly non-stop for the entirety of the day. To believe that so much could happen in less than a day was a little unbelievable to everybody. About an hour after arriving back at HQ, Diana and Nathan went into their area. Diana flopped onto the cot mattress, sighing.

"You okay?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" said Diana, "It's just been a while since I've rested aside from when we returned from the mission we met the Elites and Abby."

"I know. I was TOTALLY caught off guard by the fact that all this has already happened! We've only been doing this for like...two days excluding today. It's just...wow."

"Yeah, but it feels good knowing that we're helping people."

"I agree. The fire was one thing, I didn't know HOW to feel after I saved you. But this...this feels different. I feel like I'm doing something amazing..."

"You ARE doing something amazing, Nathan. You're saving countless lives by foiling their plans! I think that's what I like about you, you put the needs of others before your own needs. When you saved me from the Great Fire, I didn't really know how to feel either. There's no one else I know who's ever done anything as heroic as that. If it was some other kid and not you, I don't think I'd be here talking to you right now."

"..." Nathan was silent as he sat down on the other cot across from Diana. "I don't really know what would happen. It would've depended on the person."

"...I don't regret taking that break. I don't regret being in that building when the fire started."

"Huh?"

"It took me 'til just now to realize it, but that fire was sort of a life lesson in a way to me. It sharpened my bravery, my courage. It molded me into the bold girl I am now. I guess I felt a little invincible once I was all better. Hehe...I felt like I had survived the end of the world. And...I have you to thank for that, Nathaniel."

Nathan was again silent. Diana had never called him by his full name before, so he was surprised. "...Y-You're welcome. I was just doing what I had to do. I felt like if you were lost, it would be my fault. And besides, you're a great girl...one that deserves to live on. You've been my friend since childhood, and know you enough to know that losing you would have a tragic cost on me. I couldn't allow you to die that day." Diana was slightly wide-eyed, with an expression of shock on her face.

"Is...something wrong? Was it something I said?" Nathan asked.

Diana suddenly ran over to Nathan, hugging him tightly, blushing heavily. She had never heard such words from anyone, and felt like she had to express her joy for hearing them. Nathan was frozen, surprised by Diana's sudden move. He was completely still, not knowing what to do or even think.

"I can't tell you how happy those words make me!" Diana said, "I've...never been told anything like that before!"

"Really?" Nathan said, surprised, "Never in your life?"

"For as long as I can remember, I haven't heard anyone say those kind of things to me!"

Nathan was yet again silent. He thought Diana was kidding, but her expression said otherwise. He sat there in silence, blushing, until Diana eventually let go.

"Hehe! You're blushing again, Nathan!"

"Uh- What?!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure I was blushing too."

"Hmm...I wonder if we can leave HQ. I want to go back to Inkopolis and find a team. I need a break from Octarian fighting anyway."

"Yeah, same here. I want to assemble a team myself." Diana and Nathan exited the rest area. They went to Cuttlefish, now in new gear, and asked if they could go back in Inkopolis. He said that everyone was allowed to leave for now, as Abigail and her squad were doing recon and there were a few agents who hadn't been in as many missions volunteering to be prepared if an emergency occurred.

Many of the agents went to Inkopolis for the rest of the day to play some Turf War to lighten the mood. The city was calmer now that the disappearances had stopped. Nathan and Diana simply did a few Turf Wars, and they and some other agents forged new teams. The teams fought in Turf Wars for the next few hours, taking breaks every once in a while, before heading back to their homes to prepare for the next day, whatever it may bring.


	28. Chapter 28: Nighttime Ambush

Nathan and Diana arrived at the apartment building their homes were in at around 10:00 PM, the time when the Turf War stages and shops were closing for the night. Nathan was surely ready to go to sleep, after such a long day, as was Diana. Diana entered the apartment, but stopped when Nathan didn't follow.

"Nathan?" she said, "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm coming," said Nathan, "Just give me a minute. I thought I might of hard something."

"What?"

"I'm not sure. I'll let you know when I confirm what it was...or is."

"Okay...Be careful." Diana slowly closed the door behind her as she entered the building. Nathan peeked from behind a wall, looking in the direction of where the sound was coming from to see nothing. Nathan walked out from behind the wall into an alleyway, looking around for anything suspicious.

It was notably quiet, but Nathan wasn't convinced that there was nothing. He looked around more. Perhaps it was just a bird or the wind, he thought. However, he began to think otherwise when he heard the sound of footsteps, as if someone where approaching him. He looked around but saw nothing.

"Maybe I'm hallucinating..." Nathan thought to himself.

"You ain't hallucinating anything, boy!" yelled a voice that was all too recognizable. Nero jumped down, attempting an airborne attack, but Nathan dodged out of the way.

"Nero!" said Nathan, drawing his roller from the scabbard he made. "Back to taking Inklings, again?!"

"No, I'm just here to get rid of you! Edith has the third Octoweapon ready, and she's been dying to use it! I figure if I take you out, then it'll make our mission much easier! Ah...you still use a roller as a Turf War weapon, I see! Pathetic."

"What are you talking about?!"

"What's the matter, Nathan? Don't you recognize me? We met long before this invasion even started. Do you remember back in your hometown, Nathan? Do you remember that day? The day that you met the Champion for the first time?"

Nathan knew what he was talking about. It was an event of his own past, about a year ago to be precise. "I will never forget that day, Nero!"

Nathan remembered an attack that happened during his last few weeks of Turf War training. Champion X had come for a special event, and the trainees got a chance to meet him, including Nathan. After the training session was over and most people went home, Nathan stayed to train more with X. However, three Octolings attacked, going after the trainees. Nero was among the attackers. Nathan had tried to fight back, but quickly lost.

The Champion had to intervene and defeat Nero while Nathan had no choice but to retreat. He and X told many about the incident, but no one believed them, as they were the only ones at the training area during the attack, as everyone else left for home. They were the only ones who witnessed the attack, and there was no remaining proof of the incident. The only person who believed Nathan was Diana, who told him not to worry too much about it.

"I sent those three Octolings to take care of you those few days ago, but they failed," Nero continued, "Two of them were the same ones you saw during the attack!"

"That's in the past, Nero. I'm over it," said Nathan, "But why would you attack randomly?"

"We were looking for new material for weapons, but we wanted to keep ourselves hidden or else that damn Cuttlefish or that pesky Agent 3 may come after us. We found a few things, but not much. We built our weapons over the course of a year, and when they were finished, we struck. That first strike was a few days ago."

"So you've been planning this for a while!"

"Yes. But enough talk! You've foiled many of our plans, but I have some bad news for you...our Ultimate Weapon is nearly complete! Soon enough, you can say good bye to Inkopolis!"

"I won't let that happen! We'll defeat you! We won't let you take anymore Inklings!"

"We don't need anymore Inklings for now. All that matters right now is that I'm gonna take you DOWN!" Nero, equipped with his own weapon, an Octoroller, charged at Nathan, and the two engaged in battle. Nathan had only his Silver Hero Roller to use in battle, and he had no armor or hero gear. He was at a disadvantage, but he didn't let that bring him down.

Nero swung his roller like a club, flinging ink everywhere in the process. Nathan evaded the ink and the weapon itself as best he could, but knew without armor or a secondary weapon that was a shooter, he had to get in up close and personal, as well as be much more careful.

Nero slammed his roller to the ground, and charged at Nathan, attempting to run him over. Nathan however, having lots of experience thanks to Turf Wars, managed to evade the roller just as it was about to crush him. He slammed Nero in the back with his roller, swinging it like a baseball bat.

"URGH!" yelled Nero, "Damn you!" Getting more aggressive, he went back to swinging his roller like a club. The two continued to fight, and Nathan managed to evade most of Nero's attacks. "You've gotten better! But...you can't...beat...ME! Not very easily, at least!"

"I can defeat you, Nero!" said Nathan, "And I'll do whatever it takes to beat you!"

"Will ya, now?" Nero pulled out a thick wire connected to a back gauntlet he was wearing, throwing it towards Nathan. Nathan used his arm to block it, but released that it had wrapped itself around his arm. Nero quickly yanked the wire, jolting Nathan forward a bit. He shook his hand slightly, and a short but strong electric current was sent through it, shocking Nathan.

Nathan screamed in pain as the shock ripped through his body. It lasted for only a few seconds, but it was strong and he fell to his knee. "You like that?" Nero taunted as he sent another, weaker shock. Nathan still stood strong, though on his knee. He slowly stood up, only to get knocked down by Nero, who attempted to slam his roller down on Nathan. But Nathan blocked it with his own roller.

"You cheated!" Nathan yelled.

"So what?!" Nero yelled back as he continued swinging his roller as Nathan continued to block. He suddenly felt something large hit him in the side, sending him away from Nathan. He looked in the direct the object came from, only to get hit in the face with a large ink bullet.

A Blaster was thrown aside by mysterious Inkling that appeared out of the shadows. He wore a Paintball Mask that was modified. It was colored black with its patterns faintly glowing blue, with two black elastic bands holding the mask in place. He had carbon fiber armor, including a breastplate, gauntlets, boots, shoulder guards, and leg armor. He had no armor on his arms, but had a black jacket on underneath his armor. All of the armor pieces had faintly glowing blue patterns similar to the mask. The Inkling seemed to be about 18 years old.

"Who are you?" Nathan asked.

"I'll tell you later," said the young man, "Here, take this!" He tossed what seemed to be a Hero Shot Replica, and Nathan caught it flawlessly.

"Hey, thanks!"

"No problem, kid! Let's get him!"

"You're on my side?"

"Of course I am!"

"Alright then! Let's roll!"

"It doesn't matter if it's one of you or two of you," said Nero, "I will CRUSH YOU!" He charged at the two, the fight continued onward.


	29. Chapter 29: The Rogue Hero

The mysterious man fought alongside Nathan, helping him in a number of ways. Sometimes he would distract Nero so Nathan could land a hit on him, or Nathan would distract Nero so the man could attack. Sometimes he would toss a Splat Bomb to Nathan, as he would use his roller like a baseball bat to hit the bomb towards Nero like a baseball.

The young man showed great skill in the art of combat. He wielded two Hero Shots, or they could of been replicas, it was too hard to tell. Due to his armor being made of carbon fiber, he could move very easily. He was very smart too, he seemed to have lots of experience in combat.

"Damn!" said Nero, "You're fighting style is...quite well! But it won't be enough to take down this commander!"

"Is that so?" said the man as he unleashed a sucker punch at Nero's face, knocking him down. The armor gave the man greater strength. "THAT was just a tap. Now are you gonna give up, or do we need to crank it up to 11?"

"Maybe...After I turn your precious armor into a stained soup can!" Nero charged at the man, who evaded his attacks.

"Kid!"

"Right!" said Nathan as he rushed over. He swung his roller, flinging ink onto Nero's back. With Nero distracted, the mysterious man nailed him with a blow to the face.

"That's it! Time for you to know what the electric chair feels like!" Nero threw his electric wire at the man and it wrapped around his gauntlet. When Nero activated it, it made the entire armor suit's lights flash on and off for bit, but the man barely even flinched.

"Electricity cannot get past the gear underneath this armor!" he said, "The armor is made of carbon fiber, but the suit's inner layer is made of a material that cannot be electrified!" He grabbed the wire, throwing it aside as Nathan struck Nero from behind, knocking him down and making a small case that was connected to his belt snap off and fell to the ground, but Nero did not notice.

"DAMN YOU!" yelled Nero as he stood back up. "Forget this! I have a weapon to monitor! I'll deal with you next time!" Nero summoned an aircraft with a small remote, and using a grappling hook to get to the roof of a building. He jumped into the aircraft and flew away.

"Damn you Nero..." said Nathan.

"Are you alright?" said the mysterious man.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Thanks for your help."

"No problem, kid." He picked up the case that fell off of Nero's belt. "This may have something important in it. It came off of Nero's belt."

"Can I see it?"

"Yeah, here." The man handed the case to Nathan.

"Thanks. Who are you, anyway?"

"I go by many names, kid. A lot of people back from were I lived at for a while called me the Rogue Hero, but I prefer to be called 'Titan'. It's my nickname."

"Good to know. But...how did you get the armor?"

"I built it, with the help of a few others, of course. It took a long time to figure out the technology, but we managed to construct it."

"I see." Nathan opened the case to see something he wasn't expecting to see. "Wha-?! The third Boss Key? I guess I should've expected that though. The first place I'd expect it to be should've been in Nero's possession."

"I knew he had that thing, so I followed him. My original plan was to obtain it and give it to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, but I ended up not having to."

"How'd you know?"

"I've been spying on them for a while, kiddo. And I've...kinda been spying on your missions too...heh heh..."

"Why?"

"I'm trying to gather information for you guys, and I think I might know something about their Ultimate Weapon that they're building."

"You do?!"

"Yeah. I'll explain later...You know, I never thought they would return...Those suckers just don't know when the hell to quit!"

"You know about what happened two years ago?! But...no one but the Splatoon knew! How would YOU know?"

"...Let just say...I knew the captain well at the time. I haven't seen him in a long time."

"You know Cuttlefish?"

"Yeah...err...Kinda. I've met with him, and his granddaughters. But I never saw them very much."

"Okay...So are you gonna come back with us tomorrow or-"

"Nah. I'm gonna keep doing recon. Here, take this USB. I took some pictures and transferred it onto here." He gave Nathan a USB drive. "I'll be going now. I hope to meet again." He left and disappeared into the night.

"Huh...mysterious," Nathan thought to himself. He looked at the Boss Key and USB drive he had just obtained. "Well, tomorrow is another day." Nathan headed into his apartment. When he got to his door, he decided to check on Diana. He knocked on her door, this time without the knocker, and Diana opened the door.

"Ah, there you are!" she said, "What took you so long?"

"Octoling attack...again," Nathan answered.

"What?! Are you alright?!"

"Don't worry, Diana! I'm fine! A man who calls himself 'Titan' helped me. He gave me this USB with pictures he took on it, and we managed to claim the third Boss Key. He said he's been doing recon, and that this USB has images of the Ultimate Weapon the Octarians are building."

"Really?! Should we look at the pictures? I have a computer, and we can look at them and examine them before we show the others so we can answer any questions."

"Hmm...sure. It may be a good idea, anyway."

"Okay, I'll fire up the computer!" Diana turned on her laptop and opened up a photo software. "Just insert the USB in this port here. Any pictures on it will show up on the page." Nathan inserted the USB into the laptop, and three images and a video file showed up. They were too small to see what they were, so Diana clicked a yellow button on the screen, and the first image fulled the screen.

"What the-?!" said Nathan as he saw the image, a large construction site within a colossal dome. The Ultimate Weapon appeared to be an enormous Inkzooka/Killer Wail hybrid, but it was only half-finished, so it was difficult to tell what the weapon was truly meant to be.

"Whoa...it's like a mix between a Killer Wail and an Inkzooka. I...don't know to think! I have no idea what this weapon is supposed to actually be, or what it's supposed to do, but it looks lethal! And it's not even finished!"

"I know...but what I actually WANT to know is what it is. Turn to the next image."

"Okay." Diana clicked an arrow and the next image was revealed. It showed another image of the weapon, only more completed. It was now more like a giant Inkzooka with a giant Killer Wail at the end of it rather than an ink blaster.

"Okay...now I can see what it is. It appears to be a Killer Wail with an Inkzooka-like 'body'. I guess it's a mega version of the Killer Wail."

"Look at the corner right there! There's a door under heavy guard!"

"Huh...I guess that's Octavio's room."

"The door would've been a little more...fancy if it was Octavio's throne room, don't you think? I think it's something else. But why is it on such heavy guard?"

"I don't know." Diana turned to the third image to see a slightly blurry image of the door they were taking about. "...It looks like a door for a...tool area or warehouse? But why would it be on heavy guard?! It makes no sense!"

"Octarians are weird, but their must be a reason as to why that door's guarded...What does the video show?"

"Let's see." Diana played the video, which showed progress of the weapons construction sometime between when the first few images were taken. Both Octolings and mechanical arms placed parts into place, and multiple parts lay on the ground. Sometimes, more parts were brought in via aircraft from another door. But when parts were taken out, they entered the guarded door, after a brief inspection of both the parts and the craft.

"What in the-? Some of the aircraft carrying parts are going to that door instead! Why?" Nathan said.

"Maybe it's for the Octarian Airship?" Diana suggested, "To build other smaller ships and weapons?"

"Maybe...be that doesn't explain why it's guarded and why they inspect the aircraft and the part..." The video ended and Nathan removed the USB drive from the device once Diana prepared the computer for it. "This is getting weird...It makes no sense at all!"

"Well...at least we know what the Ultimate Weapon is!"

"Yeah...but still...Why the hell is that door on heavy guard?! It doesn't seem to have any purpose besides possible vehicle/weapon construction and/or part storage."

"I'll have to think about it..."

"Now's not the time to think. We need to get some shuteye, especially after a long day like today."

"Oh right! Pfft! Sleep!"

"You forgot about it?"

"Well I was looking at pictures with possibly essential information! I got excited!"

Nathan chuckled. "You crack me up, Diana. Well, I'll be going now."

"Okay. Good night!"

"Good night." Nathan closed to door behind him gently and entered his own room. He placed his roller by his bed so he would have quick access to it when he woke up in the morning. As he drifted into a slumber in his bed, he wondered if tomorrow could be his last day fighting Octarians. Whether that meant the final battle at last or his death at the hands of the Octarians, he was prepared for whatever tomorrow may bring.


	30. Chapter 30: The War Intensifies

"THE KEY IS GONE?!" Nero yelled.

"It must've fallen off your belt!" Edith said.

"ARGH! SHIT! OUR PLANS KEEP FALLING APART! We need to get that key back, ASAP!"

"No can do, commander! If it's in their possession, they'll likely have it used by now!"

"Ugh...If we can't take the key back, then I guess I'll to take something else. Their LIVES!"

"And how do we do that? The Ultimate Weapon isn't even finished!"

"Edith...you built the third Octoweapon. Now is your chance to try it! If you can take care of them, I'll convince Octavio to put you third-in-command of the Octarian forces!"

"Sounds like a plan. Besides...I need to have a few words with Abigail...Actually, I'll do better! I'll attack a large area of people, and take out as many as I can. We don't need anymore Inklings for now, anyway."

"I'm trusting you on this. Come back empty, and you're DONE. Prepare your squad! You can attack at anytime tomorrow! But it MUST be tomorrow."

"Yes, commander. You will not be disappointed."

"I better be!"

 _ **The Next Morning...**_

Nathan had woken up at 6:00 AM to look up any information on the Great Turf War on his computer before going to HQ. It was 7:15 AM now, and Nathan had discovered that the reason for the war was due to rising sea levels. Ironically, they were decreasing now, providing more room on land rather than less of it.

Nathan was surprised at first, but figured he shouldn't be, as Turf War was basically fighting for turf. He suddenly heard a knock on his door. It was Diana, who came to check on him.

"You ready to go?" she said softly, as she was still a little tired.

"Yeah, I just need to get the key and USB drive."

"Don't forget your silver roller!"

"Heh heh...and that, too!" Nathan grabbed his things and he and Diana headed for Inkopolis Plaza. As they headed there, Nathan told Diana more about his encounter with Nero and Titan the night before. Both of them wondered who Titan really was, and what his true intentions were. But that was a question that would have to wait to be answered.

"The plaza's quiet..." said Diana as they arrived. There were Inklings, but not very many and they were quiet.

"Two attacks is all it took to strike this much fear?" Nathan thought to himself. "We gotta move." Nathan and Diana quickly entered the manhole, traveling to Octo Valley. When they arrived, multiple agents were outside talking to each other. Nathan and Diana entered the house and down the elevator for HQ.

When they arrived, they stepped out of the elevator but stopped walking when they saw Smith slumped against his chair, having fallen asleep. Callie was next to him and looked at the two, telling him to be quiet. Marie was standing against the wall, looking at Nathan and Diana while pointing at Callie is doing the coo-coo sign.

"What's going on?" Diana whispered.

"She's making a fool out of herself," said Marie, "Callie's gonna prank him. I warned her...she never listens."

"Oh no, this might get ugly," said Nathan silently.

"Yeah..." said Diana. Callie held a fog horn in her hand and held it by Smith's ear. Just as she was about to press the button, Smith hit her in the face with a sucker punch.

"Got ya this time, Callie!" he said, "You thought it would be easier the third time? Ha! Nope!"

"Ow..." said Callie, "I think you broke my nose!"

"How can he break your nose? We don't have bones!" Marie said.

"Well...he nailed me pretty darn hard!"

"Sorry 'bout that, Callie," said Smith, "Just don't do it again."

"I'm not sure if this lesson will stick in her mind," said Marie.

"Um...okay. That happened..." said Nathan.

"Oh! Nathan and Diana! Your suits are in your rest area as usual, just so you know."

"Okay." The two put on their Hero Suits and returned to the room. "Smith, a man named Titan gave this to us. We think you might want to see it."

"Titan?"

"I was ambushed by Nero last night, and a man who called himself Titan helped me out. We managed to get third Boss Key and he gave me this USB drive. I examined the pictures with Diana last night after the attack, and we found some images of the Ultimate Weapon."

"What?! Gimme that!" Smith yanked the USB out of Nathan's hand and plugged it into the supercomputer. The first image appeared on screen, showing the Ultimate Weapon mid-construction. "What kind of Ultimate Weapon is that?!" He then spoke into a loudspeaker, "All agents report to the main base immediately!" Within a few minutes, all of the agents had gathered, including Cuttlefish, Abigail, the Elite Five, and Leo.

"Abigail," said Diana, "You know the Octarian forces like the back of your hand! What the hell is that?!"

"It's the Ultimate Weapon alright!" Abigail said as the screen switched to the second image, "It's looks like a Killer Wail/Inkzooka hybrid, but from what I know it functions like a Killer Wail. The laser is designed to destroy all Inkling in its path. Being a Killer Wail, it can go through walls and does no damage to anything EXCEPT Inklings."

"What's the blast range and radius?" said Smith.

"It's designed to be able to fire from miles away! And the laser itself is...EXTREMELY wide."

"Oh I don't like the sound of that! Not at all!" said Leo.

"Abigail, look at the next one," said Nathan as the image switched to the third image, "What's behind that door? They're bringing random parts through it!"

"I hate to say this but...I really don't know! They're very strict on who goes in and who comes out, only the elites can do that. But during one of your missions, I was talking to Edith. She said the parts were spare, but I don't believe her. I think they may be used for something else. Something important.

"Like...what?"

"I have no idea. But I CAN tell you what they plan to do with the Ultimate Weapon. They plan on firing it at Inkopolis, the plaza especially. After firing it a few times, they intend to kill the rest of Inklings the laser somehow doesn't hit by invading the rest of the city."

"Dammit..." said Jason, "These guys are more geared up then I first thought..."

"We gotta do something abo-" Smith started to say when the supercomputer screen suddenly got distorted and then went static. "What the-?!" Suddenly, Edith appeared on the screen.

"Edith!" yelled Diana.

"You hacked into the system?!" yelled an agent.

"That's right, ya stupid Inklings!" said Edith, "I see you've discovered the third key!"

"Your commander carelessly dropped it!" said Nathan, "It wasn't intentional, but he literally gave us this key! Why are you calling us?"

"Oh...why am I calling you? Weird...OH! Maybe it was to tell you that you better got your little asses over to Moray Towers right now, or EVERY SINGLE building in that area and EVERYONE in them is gonna be roasted! And if my big steel pet doesn't do the job, then I WILL!" Edith kicked the camera, and the screen returned to static.

"...Please tell me the key leads to Moray Towers!" said an agent.

"It does," said Abigail.

"There's little time!" said Cuttlefish, "Nathan, Diana, Callie, Marie, Abigail, and Leo! You're all going to the towers to fight Edith! Me, Smith, and a bigger team will be tending to the ground below in case an army shows up. Nathan, you're in charge of your squad. Who knows when she'll attack! We have to hurry!"

"Right!" said Nathan.

"Let's go! C'mon!" said Diana. The team grabbed some armor, converted their color to orange for the battle, and rushed for the third Boss Kettle. Other agents prepared for battle and grabbed gear and weapons. Nathan's team headed into the Kettle after unlocking it, rushing for Moray Towers.


	31. Chapter 31: Terror at the Towers

It was still sunrise when the team arrived on top of Moray Towers. Many of the surrounding building had just opened, and their were citizens all over the place, on the streets and in the buildings. It was the perfect place for Octarians to strike, but it was strange to Nathan that Edith wanted to fight on Moray Towers specifically. The team made their way to the center of the stage.

"Alright Edith..." said Callie once the team arrived at the center, "Where are you?"

"She's likely not here yet," said Marie.

"She could be hiding, but yeah," said Nathan, "Stay on your guard!"

"Smith, how's your team?" Abigail asked over the headset.

"We're stationed and ready for battle!" Smith replied.

"Good!"

"You must keep both your offense and defense up as high as possible!" Leo said as he performed tricks with his Inkbrush, "Be aware of your surroundings, and use the environment to your advantage."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Abigail, "That's the first samurai-like I've heard you say since we met you!"

"Is that so? You must've not been listening to my past quotes. I speak both samurai and modern day, octosquid! You better keep your ears open!"

"Okay settle down guys, we're in the middle of a mission!" said Nathan.'

"No, you hold on a second! This Octoling/Inkling hybrid is not experienced with knowledge of my samurai skills!"

"Ugh, for the love of calamari!" said Abigail with a look of extreme annoyance and anger, grabbing Leo by his shirt, "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"GAH! Okay, okay, okay! Settle down, shōjo!"

"Guys..." said Diana.

"Yeah?" said Nathan.

"I think they've decided to show up! I just got a distress signal from an agent!"

"They're here!" said Cuttlefish over the headset, "Nathan, do you and your team see anything?"

"No," said Nathan, "Not yet." The team suddenly heard a loud roar and saw something headed towards them at high speed. "Hit the deck!" The team ducked, narrowly avoiding the object. It stopped in midair in front of them. It was giant robotic dragon, with Edith riding on it.

Edith held two long electric reins connected to the beast's head that looked more like whips attached to the head. She was standing on the back of the creature and was wearing special armor over her torso, arms, and foot. She was not wearing goggles and her expression showed pure extreme anger.

The beast itself was enormous, twice the size of the Octoscorpio. It was silver with glowing purple patterns all over it. It had bright glowing purple eyes with white pupils. Its silver teeth were razor sharp and it had a large metal snake-like tongue colored purple. The claws on its two legs were also glowing purple and were incredibly sharp, sharp enough to break flesh with no effort and tear through even titanium. It had huge, purple wings and a long tail with a very sharp end. This machine clearly wasn't designed to fight Inklings, it was designed to kill them.

"Ya see?!" Edith sound with a smile on her face and in a tone that sounded like she was insane, "This is what happens when you foil our plans! This baby is the third New Great Octoweapon, the Octodragon! This beast may not be THE Ultimate Weapon, but it's MY VERSION of what I would design it to be! You have no idea what's in store for you, and you never will...BECAUSE I'M GONNA KILL YOU ALL!"

"You may try!" yelled Leo, "But we cannot be defeated!"

"We'll see about THAT! I'll be having calamari on the menu tonight!" Edith pulled the reins and the battle began. The dragon was airborne, making it extremely hard to hit. But the truth came quickly that this beast had no tentacles inside like all the other bosses had. This one was powered by Edith herself, specifically the reins.

The end of reins, more like whips, were connected to the beast, but the other end of them had wires connected to a metal box on Edith's back, which was likely producing the electricity. Multiple ink weapons, including Splatlings and and other rapid-fire guns, appeared on the sides of the creature and fired frantically as it swooped down over and over tried to hit one of the team's Inklings.

"She ain't gonna stop until she hits something!" Diana said.

"She's not gonna stop until she KILLS something!" Abigail said, "She's gone insane!"

"Well that would explain the extremely angry look in her eye!" said Leo, "And the creepy smile on her face! She's become sadistic!"

"She's always been like that! From the minute she was born! She always seemed to like it when others got hurt back when we were children."

"You can forget about our childhood, bitch!" Edith yelled, "The past is gone! If I had known you were a hybrid, I would've killed you the moment I first saw you!"

"Is that so? Well I'm glad I decided to join the other side, then!" Edith rammed the beast into one of the towers, tearing half of it apart. The beast then fired a Killer Wail laser at the team, but missed. She fired again, but missed again. The dragon fired one more time, and missed yet again, but nearly hit Nathan.

"NATHAN!" Edith yelled as she flew towards him, a claw nearly decapitating him. Nathan showed no fear and fired back. As it flew over him again, he noticed an enormous circle faintly glowing red with an "X" labeled on it, located on the beast's belly.

"How do we take that thing down?!" Diana exclaimed.

"There HAS to be a weak spot!" said Leo.

"There is no weak spot!" yelled Edith, "Better give up while you still can!"

"Really?" said Nathan, "Then what's the X on that thing's stomach?!"

"That's not a weak point!"

"Sure it is..." Nathan said silently. As the beast flew over him again, he throw a Suction Bomb at the "X", and it stuck on. When it exploded, nothing really happened.

"Told you!" Edith dove down again, and Nathan realized that the belly had opened up, and a large was where the "X" once was.

"Guys!" yelled Nathan, "I'm going inside that thing!"

"How?!" Diana asked.

"Like this!" As Edith swooped down again, firing a Killer Wail as she did so, Nathan managed to super jump straight into the hole, and landed inside the machine. Since the body of the dragon was so huge, he could easily stand up inside. He show the machine's core, which was a red sphere that glowed similar to the beat of a heart.

"Hey! Where'd he go?!" Edith yelled.

Meanwhile, Smith and his team were dealing with the invading army below the towers. The Octarians were slightly outnumbered 3 to 1, but that didn't stop them from trying to invade the city. Smith and Cuttlefish were dealing with a squad of about eight elite Octolings, while the others dealt with the rest of the Octarian army that had come, including Octotroopers, Octobombers, Octocopters, and even other Octolings.

"This better be the final battle!" yelled an agent.

"It's not even close!" yelled Smith, "Whether they're gonna do AFTER this, it'll be ten times more than just an army! Just take down as many as you can!"

"Don't give up!" yelled Cuttlefish, "Fight them all! Have faith in yourselves! And have faith in Nathan's team while they're dealing with Edith, too!" At Moray Towers, the dragon kept firing its Killer Wail shots and multiple weapons, but never severely injured anyone much to Edith's dismay.

"Argh!" she yelled, "Why can't I just freakin' hit 'em?!" Inside the dragon, Nathan tried damaging the core, but its shield was unbreakable.

"Damn!" Nathan said. He looked beyond the core to find a lot of wire connected to something moving in the wall. Nathan realized it was the beast's Killer Wail and figured that disabling it would help a great deal. He started removing wires and realized the weapon starting to get loose. He removed wire after wire until there were no more wires left. He kicked the weapon, and it come loose. The dragon tried to fire, but nothing happened at first.

"WHAT?! Edith yelled. The Killer Wail suddenly fell out of the mouth, landing on the ground below the tower, crushing multiple Octarians. "NO?! Wha- IS HE INSIDE-!?" Edith was consumed by rage and insanity. "THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA KILL ALL OF YOU!" The dragon then landed on the center of the stage, and chomped away, firing its weapons as fast and frantically as it could.

It swung its claws and tail around, trying to slash the heroes to shreds. It roared and growled and acted like a mad bull. Edith had been driven to near-insanity, and she was now hellbent on obliterating all Inklings from the world. The movement of the beast shook Nathan back and forth inside it, and eventually he accidentally deactivated a layer of the shield protecting the core.

"Aha!" Nathan said as he opened a nearby vault and started pulling wires out, causing sparks to fly. Nathan got electrocuted for a few moments, but let go immediately afterwards. The other layers of the shield deactivated and Nathan slammed it with his roller, damaging at greatly. The beast let out a roar of pain.

"NO! DAMMIT!" yelled Edith. She did all she could to maneuver the creature towards another location, and would take Nathan with her.

"Nathan!" yelled Diana she super jumped and grabbed the tail of the creature as it wildly flew away.

"Shit!" yelled Abigail, "It seems to be heading for Saltspray Rig!"

"Again?!" said Callie.

"We have to tell the others!" said Leo.

"And there might be a Turf War match happening there, too!" yelled Marie.

"Then we REALLY gotta tell Smith! We need to get there ASAP!" said Abby. As the four rushed to get to Saltspray, the massive dragon flew towards the rig, losing control more and more every second. Players were in a heated Turf War when they spotted the monstrosity heading right for them.

"Forget this!" yelled Edith as the reins disconnected and she jumped off the beast. Nathan did the same, along with Diana. The monster crashed into the sea, exploding in the process. Edith landed in the square area of the rig, where the Octoscorpio was fought earlier. Nathan and Diana landed in front of Edith, glaring at her.

"It's over, Edith!" said Nathan, "You're done!"

"Turf War players! Evacuate the area! NOW!" yelled Diana.

"Oh I don't want them..." Edith said in a tone of voice that showed she had reached complete insanity. "All I want...IS YOU!" The reins were now electric whips, and Edith was ready to roast the two. "You're gonna be my DINNER!"

"Electric whips?!" Nathan said in shock. "Alright then, Edith! Bring it on! We're ready for you!"


	32. Chapter 32: Edith's Rampage

Edith attacked to two heroes with all of her might, a large splatter of purple ink appearing every time the whip hit the ground. The whip was made of carbon fiber and was about 18 feet long. It had two modes, Ink Mode and Electro Mode. Ink Mode had the whip as an ink-spraying weapon. Whenever the end of the whip hit to ground, it splattered ink in that location. It could wrap around someone without doing damage, but a direct hit with it could instantly splat the opponent.

Electro Mode was a bit more deadly. In this mode, the whips were electrified. A hit wouldn't splat an opponent, but would electrify them pretty badly. In both modes, f any other part of the whip connected with something, it would place ink. If it Edith could switch between them at will, but was sticking to Ink Mode for now. The whips were also retractable and could retract into their handles for easier storage. She swung her whips like mad, trying frantically to hit the two.

She focused on Diana first, figuring killing her would have more than a dramatic effect on Nathan. She put her whips aside, retracting them and putting them on her back. She turned to melee combat, using her usual punches and kicks to try to weaken Diana.

Diana had examined her moveset, and had better knowledge on it since the last time they fought. Edith rapidly threw punches but Diana managed to dodge them all. However, she managed to hit her right in the jaw, knocking Diana down. Edith grabbed her whip, extending it into Electro Mode.

"Eat this ya dirty squid!" she yelled. The whip come down fast, but Diana rolled out of the way. He tried to hit her again, but Diana dodged again. Diana made a run for it to look take cover, but Edith swung hit the ground right by her foot, causing Diana to fall down.

Diana looked at Edith, approaching slowly, swinging and cracking her whips as she walked over to the fallen Inkling. When she was in close enough range, Edith lashed at her. The blow hit Diana's arm, but she yelped in pain as the strong shock was sent throughout her body for just a few seconds.

"You like that, little orange?" Edith taunted, "Have some more!" She lashed her whip again, but missed as Diana dodged at by a mere inch. Quickly recovering from her electric hit, she stood up, breathing heavily. Nathan attacked Edith from behind, using a metal plate to slam her in the back.

"Ugh?!" Edith said, "You little-!" Edith lashed at Nathan, wiping the metal plate from his hands. "GO TO HELL ALREADY!" She kept lashing at Nathan, but he dodged each time. He knew he had to, as he wasn't wearing any armor that would protect him from electricity.

"What's the matter with you!?" Nathan yelled as he fired his Hero Shot.

"What the matter with me? WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH ME?! EVERYTHING! YOU'VE FOILED MOST OF OUR PLANS, YOU'VE RUINED MY CHANCES OF BECOMING MORE POWERFUL, AND...AND...URGH!" Edith violently lashed both whips at Nathan, and they wrapped around his arms.

Edith sent electric shocks through them, and then used them to fling Nathan to the other side of the stage, the rectangular area on the Bottom Area. He landed hard, and simply lay there in order to recover.

"You're gonna regret that, ya little octobitch!" yelled Diana as she charged at Edith with full force. She fired her Hero Shot at Edith, who lashed at her wildly. Diana let one of them wrap around her arm, but then swung her arm away from Edith, yanking the whip from her hand, disconnecting the wire to the power supply on her back as well.

"Ha!" said Diana she she unwrapped the weapon from her arm and retracted it, throwing it aside, "You're down a weapon!"

"I can fight with one!" yelled Edith. She swung her other whip, trying her hardest to hit her. Eventually, she retracted it and put it away in order to fight Diana with melee attacks once again. Diana's agility served her well to dodge the attacks, and her swiftness helped as well. She fought back as best she could. Meanwhile, Nathan recovered from his launch, getting up. He rushed towards the Top Area.

"Psst, kid!" said a voice. Titan jumped out from behind a crate.

"Titan?" said Nathan, "What are you doing here?!"

"I came to bring you this!" He handed Nathan an armor case. "It's electricity-proof armor. Youc an put it one over your current suit. I'd hurry though, your friend's in trouble."

"Diana?!" Nathan looked behind him for a minute. "Alright, thanks!"

"No problem! But I gotta go, I didn't bring any weapons with me this time, a stupid move...So that armor's all I have to give."

"It's fine!" Nathan put on the armor, which was colored silver. It had a chestplate, gauntlets, boots, and shoulder guards. "Thanks again!"

"Anytime, kid!" Nathan rushed for the top area, equipping his Hero Shot. Diana was still dealing with Edith, trying desperately to evade all of Edith's attacks and land a few hits of her own on her. However, Edith eventually knocked her down again. Reclaiming her lost whip and taking out the other one, she activated the working one in Electro Mode.

"I told you!" said Edith, "You're fresh meat, now!" Edith prepared to lash her with the whips when a Burst Bomb struck her in the back. "WHA-?!" She looked behind her to see Nathan in the silver armor running at her. "You again?!" She lashed at Nathan, and the whip wrapped around Nathan's arm. The electricity had no effect on him, however.

"What?!" said Edith, "ARGH! YOU GET MORE ANGERING EVERY MINUTE YOU DAMN SQUID KID!" She yanked the whip, but it wouldn't unwrap from Nathan's arm. Nathan came up and punched Edith in the stomach and then unleashed an uppercut on her, causing her to let go of her whips. "Urgh?!"

"I got this!" said Diana as she struck Edith in the back of the head, the back, and then tripped her by kicking her heel. Diana stomped her foot on Edith's back, breaking the whip system and cutting the power supply. Nathan disconnected the wire of the other whip, holding both of them in his hand. "What do we do with those?"

"We'll toss 'em," said Nathan as he threw the whips over the edge of the platform and into the ocean. "That's it." Nathan walked away. "You've lost, Edith. Your fight is over." Diana followed him.

"Screw that..." Edith said silently, "I'm still kill ya!" She took out a pocket knife and rushing towards the two. Nathan quickly turned around, but Edith was struck by a sucker punch to the face before she could stab Nathan or Diana. Abigail delivered the blow, and to two get into a fist fight.

"Nathan! Diana!" yelled Callie as she, Marie, and Leo arrived shortly after, "Are you alright?"

"We're fine," said Diana, "Where's Abby?"

"Over here!" said Abigail while fighting Edith.

"We have unfinished business, Abigail!" said Edith, "And you're actually first on my to-kill list!"

"Try to! You won't succeed!"

"OH YEAH?!" Edith tackled Abigail, and pushed her off the edge. But she didn't go far as she clung on to teh edges with a grappling hook. Edith laughed. "Ha ha ha! Very funny, Abby! I can just simply remove this and-" She was interrupted when Diana shoved Edith off the edge as well. Edith caught quickly Abby's boot, holding tightly.

"DAMMIT! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE WATCHING YOU FALL!" she yelled angrily.

"Sorry, Edith! But you chose the wrong side!" Abigail said.

"I will never let go! You will be the one who falls into that water!"

"No! Just you!" Abigail kicked Edith repeatedly.

"I've got an iron grip, sis! You ain't gonna make me let go easily!"

"Is that so? Well then, I guess you won't let go of my boot!"

"Nope! Not until you fall!"

"Or...until the boot SLIPS OFF!" Abby shook her leg, and her boot slowly slipped off her foot.

"Threaten me all you want! Your lies won't persuade me!"

"If you believe everything is a lie, then you might regret what was actually truth." The boot slipped off farther.

"You cannot tell me what is truth and what is not!"

"Edith, you never really were the brightest of us. Now fall." The boot slipped off Abby's foot, and Edith didn't have enough time to grab Abby's foot before falling.

"No! NO! NOT LIKE THIS! CURSE YOU, ABI-" Edith's head was hit by a huge metal pole, and a dark red hole appeared on her scalp. He fell into the water, dissolving into Octarian ink, resulting in her ultimate demise.

"You went too far...you idiot." Abigail climbed her way back up to safety, and walked up to Nathan and Diana.

"I guess we won't have to worry about her anymore," said Nathan, "All that's left is Nero, Octavio, and the Ultimate Weapon."

"...Our quest almost complete!" said Diana.

"There's still very much left to do, however," said Cuttlefish as he and Smith arrived at the scene, "The Ultimate Weapon is our final task, but first we need to find it."

"We will," said Nathan, "We have to. Let's go back to base and recover for now, though. That WAS one hell of a battle."

"I agree. The Octarian forces in the city have retreated, too. Let's go back to discuss. The final battle is drawing near. We must make preparations immediately!"


	33. Chapter 33: The Final Preparation

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'd like to apologize greatly for this chapter being so late! I'm still planning out the ending, so it's taken me a while to make a final plan. I hope you understand! The next few chapters may be late as well, so please be aware of that! Anyway, enjoy the story, we're almost done!  
**_  
"THEY'VE WHAT?!" yelled Nero.

"Sir, I kid you not! Edith has been killed!" said an Octoling Elite.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Nero grabbed the elite by the throat.

"BUT I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!"

"SHUT UP!" Nero kicked the Elite in the stomach and threw her aside. "It matters little who was responsible, for ALL of the Inklings will DIE! Our ultimate weapon is finally finished, and we shall unleash its immed-"

"Not yet!" said Octavio, entering the room.

"Wh-WHAT?! But sire-"

"The weapon hasn't undergone the proper testing. We need to make sure everything is okay and make sure everything works properly. We don't want to accidentally destroy ourselves, now do we?"

"But sire...we MUST kill them at once!"

"Don't worry, we will attack. Let them enjoy their final moments... I assure you, we will strike by dawn tomorrow...Prepare the army! If the weapon fails, we'll take them out by force."

"And what about the-?"

"We'll use that, too. Ha ha ha..."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Well, team..." said Cuttlefish at the discussion table in the base, "This could be our final meeting before the final battle."

"True," said Nathan.

"Or it could be our final meeting EVER. Depending on whether or not we SURVIVE the final battle!" said an agent.

"Don't be so negative!" said Callie, "We can do it! We just-"

"Casualties in war are unavoidable. At least ONE person is gonna die in this fight. We've already lost five agents on recon missions. RECON missions! Them Octarians ain't screwing around. They're dead serious."

"Stop being a pessimist!" yelled Diana, "That guy who's gonna die WILL be Octavio!"

"Yeah...if he doesn't kill one of us first!"

"Shut up..." said David as he kicked the leg of the wooden stool the agent was sitting in, breaking it and causing the agent to fall, landing with a thud.

"Wha- OOMF! ...Ow..."

"And keep quiet!"

"Was that really necessary?" said Nathan.

"Yes. Yes it was."

"...Anyway...We need to the proper preparations for our final confrontation. Armor, weapons, whatever! We must make sure we're ready! If we lose this fight, we lose Inkopolis and possibly even the rest of our world! We have no other choice! We MUST win this battle! It's for the fate of us all!"

"He's right!" said Nathan, "This is a fight we cannot lose! If we do, all is lost forever."

"Ya know what I'm worried about?" said Jason, "The fact that they might try to attack during Splatfest tonight!"

"SPLATFEST?!" everyone yelled.

"Oh no..." said Nathan, "That would be a PERFECT time for them to attack."

"Does that mean we'll have to stay up all night?" said an agent.

"We probably should go to sleep earlier today," said Smith, "Because if they WILL attack during Splatfest, we'll need to be well-rested and we can't be tired no matter what! We need to have as much energy as we can get!"

"The Ultimate Weapon might be unstable," said Abigail, "One of my squadmates notified me that they're planning on attacking sometime tonight, as long as the weapon isn't too unstable."

"What do they plan to do with that weapon?" asked Sarah, "Like...where are they gonna fire it?"

"Not in Inkopolis, that's for sure! They won't go into the city unless the weapon fails, so even if we DO foil their plans for the Ultimate Weapon, the fight will still be far from over."

"Drat..." said Jessica, "I was hoping they'd give up after the destruction of that thing."

"Do you really think they'd give up there?" said Nathan, "Based on how they haven't given up throughout the years?"

"Yeah! What about the war two years ago? And the Great Turf War?!" said an agent.

"Calm down!" said Cuttlefish, "This war is almost over, and the victor will be decided soon. Like I said, we must rest, prepare, and make sure our own weapons are ready."

"We should start now," said Smith, "We need to use all of our remaining time wisely!"

"I agree!" said Nathan.

"Very well!" said Cuttlefish, "If you feel the need to train a bit or something, the training yard is open. Everyone, make any necessary preparations. Weapons, armor, sleep, whatever! Get what you need to get done!"

For the entirety of the rest of the day, the entire Splatoon was hard at work. While some got some early sleep, others worked their weapons and training. Smith developed a final suit for the agents to wear, the Hero Suit X. It was similar the Hero Suit and Hero Suit 2.0, but had better armor and some agents had specialized versions of the suits or their weapons with special functions. Smith's own suit, for example, had his suit outfitted with a special headset that included a visor that could give him vital info on enemies. A scope was also placed on his Hero Shot.

Diana was given a suit with thinner armor to make it easier for her to move. Due to her agility, it was fitting that she wear a uniform that allowed her to use the great flexibility she had. It also came with some miniature versions of Burst Bombs that were the size of golf balls, but had equal amount of power as the Burst Bomb.

The Elite Five had abilities that fit their fighting style and personality. Jason got a powerful scope for his Custom E-liter 3K with a special targeting system. Tony got special boots that increased his speed when rolling his Dynamo Roller. Sarah's Range Blaster got an upgrade in both fire rate and range, as well as a new paint job with lime green flames instead of the original orange.

David got a suit with gauntlets that increased his strength, making it easier to carry his Heavy Splatling. His ink tank was also noticeably wider, in order to hold more ink. Jessica was outfitted with a helmet that included the standard headset and sensors that detected when an enemy was near.

Nathan's suit was the most buffed, and it was almost completely different from the rest. The safety vest was gold instead of neon yellow or orange, and it had golden armor consisting of shoulder guards, plates on his upper legs, gauntlets, and boots. His suit had two ink tanks instead of one, his left sleeve was labeled with five stars, and his right sleeve was labeled with a "4".

When night came along, many of the agents either got some shuteye or they were still training. Some were still asleep by midnight, and others had just woken up from their long mid-day naps. Nathan and Diana were among the ones who had slept through the day. At about 4:30 PM, about an hour before daybreak, the Octarians still hadn't made a move.

"I guess something went wrong," said David, "That weapon of theirs must of malfunctioned. Ha! Win for us!"

"They could be adding some things," said Abigail, "Or they may be playing with us and trying to get our guard down. Even I can't predict them, and I'm one of 'em! Well...half of one."

"I was about to say, ain't you a hybrid?"

"Be quiet!" said Diana, "They could strike at literally anytime!...Wait...where's Nathan?!"

"Outside," said Smith, "I don't know what he's doing, but he's out there." Nathan was standing on the edge of Octo Valley, looking at Inkopolis in the distance celebrating Splatfest. He knew it was only a matter of time before it could be ruined. The full moon shined brought, illuminating the parts of the night that the festival lights in the distance didn't.

"Thought I might you up here, kid," said a voice, the voice of Titan. He walked up to Nathan, holding a silver case.

"Titan?" said Nathan, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help. I ain't gonna that city to some stupid high-tech octopi. I tried to do recon, but all the kettles are sealed off. I can't enter the domes. No one can. No one goes in, no one comes out."

"Really?"

"Yeah...Here. This...err...These might help you." He lent Nathan the case. Nathan set it on the ground and opened it, revealing its contents. He took out one of the objects, a golden Hero Shot-like weapon.

"What is this?"

"It's the Golden Hero Machine. That thing is no ordinary weapon. See that button on the side of the gun?"

"Besides the trigger? Yeah, I see it."

"Press it."

"Okay." Nathan pushed the button, and the weapon suddenly transformed into a golden Hero Roller-like weapon within seconds, fully powered. "Whoa! WHOA! Okay! Now THAT is awesome!"

"Thought you'd like it! Anyway...now to the REAL important stuff."

"Huh?"

"Like this." Titan took out what liked like a dagger. Its blade was glowing blue, and the center core of the weapon was brightly glowing blue as well. "This is something I found a while ago. I call it the Power Spark. It's ancient and it's no weapon. This device, when plunged into a machine, can power it up instantly regardless of the original power source! If you come across something that's not powered, just jam this anywhere into and BOOM! You got yourself a new machine!" He handed the Power Spark to Nathan.

"Really? What's its significance?"

"If something important powers down, you can use this to power it back up. It has three charges though, and you can only use it those three times...UNLESS you where to jam it into a machine that ALREADY has power. It'll shut it down, but give you an extra charge."

"So...this can defuse the Ultimate Weapon?!"

"Not sure about something like that, but sure, maybe. Even if it can, you'll have to get close enough to insert it, and even getting close to that thing could be EXTREMELY dangerous!"

"It's worth it if it works."

"Okay...anyway, this last one isn't as fancy but it's sure to come in handy. This is a remarkable Canned Special. I only have one. It's the Inknado."

"Wait...Inknado?! That's the new special I used in the Turf War right before I found this place!"

"Yeah. Remember, only one. Use it wisely and it the right time. THE. RIGHT. TIME."

"Got it." Titan gave Nathan the Inknado. "What else is in there?"

"Nothin'. That's it! But I'm going into that battle too. An extra player would never hurt."

"Yes...It-" Nathan was interrupted when he heard a faint rumbling noise. "D-Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"Shh! Listen!" The rumbling sounded again, and seemed to be coming from a deserted area nearby to the east. Suddenly, the ground opened up in the spot where the sound seemed to be coming from. "It's time. Their activating it!" Nathan immediately sent the signal to HQ, and the alarm was immediately sounded.

The enormous Killer Wail/Inkzooka hybrid cannon emerged from the ground, and nearly two hundred Octarian soliders, mostly Octolings, were guarding the machine. Octavio was in his mech, looking at Inkopolis in the distance. Nero was at the control panel, ready to fire. The Ultimate Weapon was ready.

"C'mon, kid!" said Titan, "Let's put that new Hero Machine to the test!"

"Right!" said Nathan as he and Titan slid down the outside of Octo Valley, meeting with the rest of the team with a ton of vehicles.

"Grab a vehicle from that truck and hurry!" said Cuttlefish.

"Whoa, who's the green guy?" said Leo.

"That's Titan. He's gonna help us," said Nathan, "Now what are we waiting for?! Let's move! Move! Move!" Nathan grabbed a motorcycle and he and the rest of the team rushed for the Ultimate Weapon.

The final battle...was about to begin.


	34. Chapter 34: The Ultimate Weapon

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Again, I'm SUPER sorry for the late chapters guys! I promise I'll try to get them done quicker!**_

Nearly 25 vehicles rushed towards the site of the Ultimate Weapon, traveling at high speeds of up to 100 mph. The smaller vehicles that had only one or two agents were notably speedier than the big ones that contained multiple agents, but they managed to stay together.

The squad composed of many vehicles, including the Squad Truck. Motorcycles and armored off-road cars were also part of the huge squad. Cuttlefish's personalized vehicle was a camouflage-colored roofless hummer with multiple weapons installed. It had two Inkzookas as well.

Nathan's motorcycle was specialized for him. It was the fastest of the vehicles, able to reach an impressive 160 mph, but Nathan didn't make it go that fast. The cycle was equipped with Aerospray-like weapons and Splatlings that were similar to the ones dune buggy-like vehicle he drove on a previous mission.

"C'mon! Hurry!" yelled Cuttlefish. The group of agents spread out a bit. Approaching from multiple angles, they were quickly noticed by the Octarians.

"Octarians! It's the Inklings!" yelled Octavio from his mech, "Do not let them approach the Ultimate Weapon while it's charging! Nero, set aim for the city!"

"With pleasure!" said Nero as he aimed the weapon at Inkopolis. "It's gonna take a while to charge! We gotta keep 'em away until then!"

"Got it, thanks for the info. Octarians! Keep them away! Don't let them lay even a finger on the Ultimate Weapon!" The Octarian forces rushed forward. The two hundred soldiers charged forward, some with vehicles.

"Incoming!" yelled Nathan.

"Forces up ahead!" yelled Cuttlefish, "Don't let your guard down no matter what! And keep fighting for as long as you can, don't fall!"

"So...what do we have to do to actually deactivate that thing?!" asked Diana.

"Uhh..." said Abigail, "I REALLY hate to say this...But I don't freaking know! That thing is super advanced, and I only specialize in small weapons."

"Dammit!" said Smith, "So what do we do?!"

"I think I might be to disable it!" yelled Nathan, "But first I gotta get in close...like REAL close!"

"How?!"

"Nathan, you ain't going insane are you?!" said Diana.

"No, I'm not! Titan gave me this Power Spark thing. It might be able to drain the power right outta that giant weapon! I have no idea if it'll work, but it's worth a shot! I need to close enough to it though!"

"Alright, Agent 4! You got it!" said Cuttlefish, "Diana! Titan! Smith! Cover Nathan and make sure he makes it close enough!" Nathan and his comrades proceeded towards the weapon, but traveled around it to find an opening. It was very hard to find one, however.

The two armies collided just seconds after the vehicles were spotted. Ink quickly consumed the ground as ink splatters flew everywhere. Octarian casualties built up at the cost of agent casualties. Nearly a hundred agents had now joined the Splatoon, but it may not have been enough to fend off the entire Octarian Army.

Many left their vehicles to fight on the ground, taking out soldier after soldier before getting killed. It was complete chaos, the ground was filled with ink to the point of where the fighters kept stepping into the other side's ink accidentally. The battlefield was quiet just minutes ago, but now the air was filled with the sound of yells and cries.

"These Inklings are tough," said Octavio, "Nero! How much longer?!"

"About ten minutes until full charge, sire!"

"Perfect! Send 'em away with it's extra weapons in the meantime! Give 'em the honor of being our first great deaths!"

"Oh yes! I'm totally doing that!" Nero pressed a button on the control panel, and a large amount of weapons appeared around the Ultimate Weapon, most of them Blaster-like weapons, but shooters were also among them. They fired frantically, annihilating any Inkling that dared to step too close. After about twenty soldiers were lost in mere seconds, the Splatoon kept their distance from the weapon.

"Ha ha! What's the matter, cowards?!" yelled Octavio, "Too scared to get close? Good! Stay that way!"

"Time to end this..." Nathan said as he charged his motorcycle right towards the weapon, using its weapons to dispatch any foes in his way.

"Nathan! We'll help!" yelled Diana as she drove her vehicle, a motorcycle with two wheels at the back and equipped with Rapid Blasters and Luna Blasters, towards Nathan. Titan also followed on his vehicle, and small aircraft with charger-like weapons.

"We got your back, kid!" he yelled down as he fired his weapons.

"Alright!" said Nathan, "I just need to make to a point were I can make direct contact with that thing!"

"I'll clear some of the weapons!" Titan took to the skies and fired at the weapons surrounding the Ultimate Weapon.

"We've only got nine and a half minutes until that thing blows!" said Smith over the headset, "We gotta pull this off fast! We have only one chance to shut that thing down!"

"Don't worry! We'll win this fight! We have to!" Nathan responded. He plowed his way through the mob of soldiers, both Octarians and Inklings. Nero spotted him.

"Sire?" he said.

"Go for it!" Octavio said.

"Yes!" Nero took out a Blaster-like weapon and fired shots from it. The weapon's projectiles were ink missile, and looked similar to mini versions of the Inkstrike. They exploded upon impact with something rather than creating an ink tornado like an actual Inkstrike. The two dodged the incoming shots, some of them just barely.

"Nero's firing at us!" Diana yelled.

"Oh come on!" Nathan growled. An ink missile then hit Nathan's vehicle on the front wheel, somehow blowing the tire and launching Nathan forwards as the motorcycle spun out. He fell onto the ground hard and rolled around a bit before landing on his feet and skidding to a stop. Standing up, he glared in Nero's direction.

"He's mine!" said Nero.

"You have my permission to go after him!" said Octavio, "Only seven minutes left, anyway! I'll take over for now!"

"Got it, sire!" Nero super jumped over to Nathan, landing a few meters in from of him. The two glared at each other. "Well, well, well! You seem to have changed a bit since the last time we fought!"

"Yeah," said Nathan as he took out his Golden Hero Machine weapon, switching it to roller mode, "You won't get it easy this time!"

"Heh! Speak for yourself, Nathan! You won't get past me so easily!" Nero charged at Nathan, but Nathan surprised him with a low sweep with his roller, knocking him to the ground. He quickly recovered and tried attacking again, but Nathan blocked the attacks. "Hmph! You have improved!"

"Yeah! Enough to put an end to you!" Nathan kicked Nero in the gut. Nero was winded for a second, but quickly charged back into battle. As the fight continued, Cuttlefish took aim at Octavio from a safe distance with his upgraded Bamboozeler. Octavio quickly took notice.

"Captain Cuttlefish!" he said. With six minutes remaining on the Ultimate Weapon's timer, he exited his mech and super jumped to Cuttlefish. "Such bravery, such leadership, such stupidity! Your courage blinds you...you may be buffed, but you're still just an old rag in your heart!"

"Speak for yourself, Octavio," said Cuttlefish, "My army fights for justice against you!"

"WE are giving justice! By annihilating your race, I will provide my kind with a home they truly deserve! One with a real sky! A real sun! Real soil! Real grass! And you took it all away!"

"No.,.you did. I don't want to take away your lives, former friend. But YOU started the Great Turf War! You attacked first! If anyone is to blame for this...it's you!"

"How dare you?! Say this is MY fault?! I'll turn you into a bowl of squid soup!" Octavio and Cuttlefish then charged at each other. The two fought each other with nothing but their bare hands as the others continued to fight Octarians. Meanwhile, Nathan and Nero were locked in brutal combat. Nathan was gaining the upper hand, something Nero never thought would happen.

"This cannot be!" said Nero, "I am the Octarian Commander! The second-in-command! I've trained my whole life for this! How can I lose to a kid who's been training for only a few days?!"

"Rage blinds you!" said Nathan. Suddenly a bang was heard and Diana's vehicle came flying towards Nathan. "WHOA!" Nathan ducked in the nick of time, avoiding a swift decapitation. The vehicle crashed and took out a whole wall of weapons surrounding the Ultimate Weapon. Diana herself rolled across the guard, landing right next to Nathan, who turned to her side. "Diana!"

"Don't worry, I'm good!" she replied. She noticed Nero running towards them, and fired at Nero's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

"AH! My eyes! I can't see!" said Nero.

"Good!" yelled Titan as he descended downwards. His aircraft had been damaged, and he was going down. He jumped right out of the aircraft as it continued its descent and crashed into another set of weapons surrounding the Ultimate Weapon. Titan landed on his feet behind Nero and punched him in the back of the neck.

"URGH! DAMN YOU!" Rage boiled inside Nero. He viciously attack Titan like a wild animal, throwing punches and kicks and even trying to slam him with his Octoroller. "SCREW YOU! GO TO HE-" Titan delivered a blow to Nero's face and then grabbed Nero's tentacle bang over his right eye. Using sheer force, Titan ripped the tentacle right off of Nero's head.

"URRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Nero yelled in pain, "MY- URGH! FORGET THIS! It won't be long now! Your kind is just minutes away from being destroyed! None of this will matter soon!" He super jumped to the top of weapon, getting a clear view of Inkopolis. He laughed with an evil grin on his face.

"Only two minutes 'til the weapon fires!" said Abigail.

"We have to shut it down RIGHT NOW!" yelled Leo.

"Then let's hurry!" said Nathan. "Titan, take to the skies! Diana you're with me! We're gonna shut this thing down...for good!" Nathan took out the Power Spark.

"Aright!" said Titan, "Let's go!" Nathan used to Spark to power up Titan's aircraft, repairing and revitalizing it in the process. Nathan then went to his motorcycle and jammed the Spark into it, repairing and powering it up once again. "Oh, and one warning! You can drain power an unlimited amount of times, but you can only get ONE extra charge!"

"Then I'll have two final charges after this!" said Nathan, "Diana, c'mon! We're gonna finish this once and for all!" The two got onto the motorcycle and Nathan drove it away from the weapon to get far enough to build up speed. After a traveling a bit away, he turned around and charged at it. It was time to finish the war.


	35. Chapter 35: Inkling Valor

Octavio and Cuttlefish continued to throw punches at each other as the other agents fought hard against the Octarian forces. Only 90 seconds remained until the weapon could fire, and with every second that passed, the pressure of the Inklings' incoming doom grew.

"Fall like your brethren soon will!" said Octavio.

"You'll have to make me!" Cuttlefish replied.

"Hurry!" yelled Titan, "Get that Spark into the Ultimate Weapon RIGHT NOW!"

Nero was on top of the weapon, not paying attention to what was going on around him. "Just a little longer now..." he said to himself, "The war is almost over. Victory for us is certain!" Other agents went to help Cuttlefish as the battle progressed, which Octavio noticed.

"Y'all want some too?!" he said tauntingly. He tossed Cuttlefish aside. Abigail, Leo, Callie, Marie, and Smith all charged at Octavio. But each time before they could even do anything, Octavio struck them hard. Using simply his own hands and feet, he countered their futile attempts to defeat him.

"We gotta move!" said Diana.

"I'm almost at full speed!" said Nathan, "Diana, can ya take over?"

"Huh?!"

"Trust me!"

"Okay!" Diana and Nathan quickly swapped positions. "Alright, when I say so, pop a front wheel wheelie!"

"WHAT?! Why?!"

"I need a boost for my Super Jump to get to that orange plate on the weapon up there! It'll drain the weapon faster if it's put there!"

"How do you know?"

"Titan. Duh."

"Oh...Of course."

"20 seconds!" yelled Titan.

"Got it!" yelled Nathan, "Okay..." Nathan silenced for a few seconds. "NOW!" Diana popped a front wheelie, Nathan super-jumped as this happened, giving him a tremendous boost upwards and forwards. Taking out the Power Spark, he landed right where he wanted to, and drove the Power Spark into the machine, causing sparks to fly from around the Spark as the device drained power from the Ultimate Weapon.

Nathan let go of the Power Spark as it drained power, landing on the ground below him. He quickly ran away to avoid harm in case the device caused the weapon to explode or something of that nature. Nero, not noticing, grinned.

"Fully charged..." said Nero. He turned around, but was immediately alerted by the sparks flying out of the weapon. He didn't see the Power Spark, though. "Huh?! D-Did I overcharge it?" He ran to the control panel. It flashed "ERROR" on the screen. "What the hell? Did we do something wrong?!"

"HUH?!" yelled Octavio, noticing the sparks flying but also the weapon starting to slowly fall apart as it lost power. "NO! Impossible! They're ruining EVERYTHING!" He rushed over to the weapon's control panel next to Nero. "NERO! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"I don't know, sire! Something's gone wrong! VERY wrong!" Nero then noticed the Power Spark in through the thousands of sparks flying around it. "What the hell is that?!"

"Impossible! They've ruined it! IT'S RUINED! RUINED!" Octavio grabbed Nero by the back of his shirt and ran off, "C'mon! Get away before it blows up!" Nathan looked back at the weapon, and saw the Power Spark flash.

"It's done!" said Titan. He used a super long grappling hook to grab hold of the Spark and yank it out of the Ultimate Weapon. A pillar of fire shot out of the newly-made hole in the weapon, and a huge portion of the weapon collapsed, releasing hundreds of containers and freeing the Inklings inside. Agents escorted them to safety.

Nathan grabbed hold of the Power Spark. Looking at it, he said, "The duty is done." The Ultimate Weapon fell apart before the eyes of everyone. Reduced to nothing more than a pile of metal parts, it sat there almost completely destroyed. There was a long silence, with the wind being the only thing able to be heard.

"No..." said a voice, Octavio, "Not yet!"

"Give it up, Octavio! You're done! Your Ultimate Weapon is destroyed! ...You have lost. Again."

"Ultimate Weapon? Which one?" Suddenly, all Inklings stopped what they were doing and looked at Octavio with wide eyes, including Nathan.

"Wh-What do you mean by 'which one'?!" Diana exclaimed.

"Foolish children...Did you really think I wouldn't have a backup plan? I'm smarter than most other villains! And now...you're going to die!" Octavio took out a small remote, pressing its only button. The ground behind him opened up, and something huge made of titanium emerged from the ground. It was a giant set of armor, a much bigger version of his previous mech, standing at nearly 100 feet tall. Anyone, including the Octarians, looked at it wide-eyed, backing away slowly. "Better say your farewells, heroes!...'Cause they're about to be your last!"

Octavio backed up towards the mega mech, and a platform appeared to escort him into it. "I hope you're ready." The mech instantly powered up once Octavio was sealed inside. Its multiple tubes and wires glowed dark purple as the mech came to life. Its two eyes glowed bright red, and four tentacle-like limbs sprouted from its back.

"This is...Octotron!" said Octavio through the machine, "And you...are fresh meat!" The Octotron lifted its foot. It then stomped the ground, not crushing anyone but creating a strong shockwave that blew away the surrounding Inklings and Octarians. "Ha! And that was just a tap compared to what this thing is truly capable of!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" yelled Leo.

"Abigail, did you know about this?!" asked Smith.

"No! I didn't! Neither did anyone else!" Abigail replied, "He told none of us! Look, even the Octarian Army is shocked!"

"...She's right," said Nathan, "None us seemed to have expected that!"

"Expect me!" said Nero as he appeared by the Octotron's foot, "Me and Octavio developed this thing in secret. We told Octarians us deliver us parts for something, but they were never told what for. With this, we will destroy Inkopolis, and all of the Inklings in it!"

"Not on my watch!" Nathan pointed his weapon at the mech.

"Child's play," said Octavio, "Get lost!" He fired a huge Blaster-like missile at Nathan. He and the others retreated, but Nathan didn't make it far enough and was blown very far away from the missile's impact.

"NATHAN!" yelled Diana as Nathan flew away. After some time, he landed hard in seemingly the middle of nowhere. He rolled around, eventually stopping. He tried to get up, but passed out. The area he landed in was like a desert almost, but it wasn't hot. Inkopolis was still visible in the distance, but it was further away. It was also quite far from where the Ultimate Weapon's site was located.

"Urgh!" said Cuttlefish, "I should've expected that from a bastard like you, Octavio!"

"I'd love to stay and chat with you guys," said Octavio, "But I've got a city to take over! Oh, but...just to keep you informed on what your city's fall will be like..." The Octotron used two of its back tentacles to grab a large chunk of the Ultimate Weapon's remains that still remained intact. It then ripped the chunk into two pieces without effort and slammed them to the ground, killing multiple agents but mostly Octarian soldiers, causing a loud rumble and the ground to shake for a little bit. "Oh...shit..."

"Forget it, master!" said Nero, "At least they weren't elites."

"Good point, my son. We don't have time to fool around here! Sorry, Cuttlefish! But I've gotta go! Octarians! Time to go!"

"All Octarians head to the airship!" Nero lead the remaining members of the Octarian Army retreated, heading onto the Octarian Airship, which flew in moments later.

"See you there." Octavio activated the Octotron's jet thrusters in its feet, and it flew towards the city like a rocket. Octavio laughed as the machine took off.

"NO!" said Diana, "Urgh!"

"I can't-" said Smith, "How- This is insane!"

"HOW?!" yelled an agent in a panic, "HOW ARE WE GONNA GO AGAINST THAT BIG-ASS MACHINE WITHOUT SOME KIND OF SUPER WEAPON?! We lose! Game over!"

"Not yet!" said Abigail, "There has to be a way to take it down...there HAS to be! But it won't be easy."

"Not easy? NOT EASY?! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT A SUPER WEAPON!"

"Forget super weapons!" said Diana, "What we need is NATHAN! He's lead not just us, but me and himself, through lots of dangerous situations! The Great Fire! The ambush! The Octoweapons! He was the one who made it past 'em all...except the Octomaw, but that one doesn't matter! If WE can make it through all we've done so far, then we can surely make it past the Octotron! But we can't do it without Nathan! He's the very reason we made it here! Without him, that first Ultimate Weapon would've fired and killed thousands right now long before we could get here!"

"D-Diana?!" said Smith.

"I'm going to find him! I know he's alive! And together, we will all make it through this! Whether it means finding a weapon to use or taking it on with our bare hands, we WILL succeed!"

"Wow..." said Abigail, "Those words alone make ya wanna die for the girl!"

"Makes me wanna die for Nathan!" said Cuttlefish, "And that's saying something!"

"I'd die for both 'em!" said Titan, "They're true heroes! And if you just wanna die for someone, that's true leadership!"

"Not just that," said Smith, "That's the aura of true determination!"

"I'm heading out now!" said Diana as she turned on Nathan's motorcycle, "I ain't coming back until I find him!"

"I'm heading with you!" said Titan as he jumped into his aircraft, "Gotta have some kind of protection."

"...Yeah. Alright!" Diana and Titan rushed in the direction Nathan was thrown in, reaching speeds of nearly 90 mph.

"Let's just hope they make it back in time," said Leo. Meanwhile, Nathan woke up. He looked around, but his eyesight was blurry at the moment. As his eyesight cleared up and regained focus, Nathan looked around. He show nothing in front of him expect for the Octotron headed for Inkopolis.

"No!" Nathan said. His eyesight had fully recovered. He stepped back a bit, but something made of metal against his back. He turned around to see what he had bumped into, a large metal object. He looked beyond the object to see what appeared to be more metal parts, and they seemed connected. Nathan was next to what liked kind of like a wall.

"What the-?" Nathan examined his surroundings. He noticed one especially large part, more like a chunk of metal, and climbed up onto it. With a better view, he saw what it was - a mech, an ancient mech, one that could be about 95 feet tall. "Whoa! What in the name of-!"

Nathan realized he was standing on the torso of the machine. Realizing he had just found a vital tool to defeat Octavio, he immediately took out the Power Spark, but hesitated. What would happen? Would it even work or would one of its final two charges go to waste? But despite these risks, they were some that Nathan had to take. It could mean the difference between the death of the world and victory.

Nathan raised the Power Spark skyward. Looking at the massive machine, he plunged the Spark into it. Suddenly, the machine shook a little bit. Around him, the machine's exterior slowly went from dull and cracked to shiny and new. The Spark was designing the machine as well, as it was originally built by a different race entirely nearly 12,000 years ago, and fitting it for an Inkling.

Nathan was surprised that the Power Spark had the ability to not just repair, repair, and empower machines, but also redesign them based on what the user wanted or needed the machine to do. Weapons that were like giant lethal weapons were turned into ink weapons and ink tanks were added to the back, though Nathan could not see this, and tubes were placed throughout the mech.

The cockpit in the center was shrunken to an Inkling's size, as the previous was much too big for an Inkling to work in correctly or efficiently. Once the Spark was finished, Nathan took it out and looked at the newly revived mech, astonished. "No way!" he said, "Octavio...you're about to meet your match!"


	36. Chapter 36: One Final Task

The Octotron landed on the outskirts of Inkopolis, smashing two buildings with its huge tentacle arms on its back at it did so. Surrounding Inklings looked at the mech, some running away and others trying to fight back. The Octarian Airship arrivied seconds later, dropping off Octarians. Inklings all over Inkopolis halted, the ongoing Splatfest went silent. The Octarians had crashed the party.

"Splat them!" yelled Octavio, "Splat them all! Leave the destruction to me!" The Octotron smashed through buildings one at a time, killing as many Inklings as he could. "Annihilate all of the squids! Make sure none are left! Gave our species the peace that we deserve!"

Octarian forces landed on the ground, attacking everything in sight, covering the area with their dark fuchsia ink. Nero commanded the main ground squad, hoping to capture all of Inkopolis's land. But to their surprise, multiple Inklings fought back, using whatever ink weapons they could found, even though they weren't agents. They would not let the Octarians ruin the Splatfest, or worse, take their home.

Even after all the fear and disappearances the Octarians had caused, the citizens refused to let the Octarians take the city so easily, even as the Octotron killed the ones in the numerous surrounding buildings.

"Ugh..." Octavio said, noticing the Inklings attacking. He stopped wrecking Inkopolis apart and started firing its multitude of ink weapons at the attacking citizens. "Deal with them first. We'll destroy the city AFTER we kill 'em. That way we don't get any surprise attacks. But if you want to rip a chunk outta something to help kill them, go for it! That would be perfect!" The army continued to attack the city. Meanwhile, Diana and Titan were still heading forward for Nathan.

"You see anything?!" said Diana.

"...Nope! Not yet!" Titan replied.

"Dammit! Keep looking!"

"...Uh...WHOA! Over there to the north!"

"What?! What is it?! Nathan?!"

"Nope...Something...Oh my gosh..."

"What is it?! Wha-" Diana looked to see what he was talking about. Both vehicles stopped in their tracks at the sight of the giant mech Nathan had found and restored rising. He had gotten inside the mech's cockpit and was now operating it after figuring out thanks to a rather simple control system.

"Huh..." Nathan thought, "It's like controlling a video game almost. This should be easy to get the hang of...thank gosh!" Nathan manged to get the mech on its feet and its eyes glowed blue with power. Nathan looked at saw amazing the mech was. It was like he was a new body completely. Almost like virtual reality, he wore a special mask that let him "see" out of the eyes of the mech.

"Sweet!" he said, his voice projected out of the machine's speaker, covered by a mask-like face. He looked around him, and scanners picked up signals of Diana and Titan. "Diana? Titan?" He walked in their direction before speeding up into a sprint. He knew somehow that Diana would follow him, she was too attached to him for her to simply leave him, and Nathan knew that fact.

"Hey guys!" he yelled as he approached them, "Look what I found!" Skidding to a stop near them, he could tell from the look on their faces that they were shocked.

"N-Nathan?! Is that you in there?!" said Diana.

"Of course it is!"

"How'd you-"

"I found it in the middle of nowhere and restored it with the Power Spark. Apparently it can do more than just power up and repair broken technology! It completely revamped this thing!"

"Then that Spark has just one charge left!" said Titan, "Use it wisely!"

"I will. There's just one final task I have to complete."

"Defeat Octavio and save Inkopolis!" said Diana.

"That's right!" He activated the mech's thrusters, located in the feet similar to the Octotron.

"Hey, by the way...what are you gonna call that thing?"

"It's called the Megasquid. Not the name I would've chosen, but I'm fine with it. Now c'mon!" Nathan activated his headset to contact everyone else. "Everyone, listen! I've got my hands on something that can challenge the Octotron! Gather up all the agents and get to Inkopolis immediately!" With that, he flew off to Inkopolis, charging forward like a missile.

"Guess it's time to stop hiding," said Titan.

"Huh?" Diana said, confused.

"You'll see. Just get on the aircraft for now. We'll be the first to defend the city with him."

"Right!" Diana jumped on board the aircraft and it rushed to the city. The other agents were rushing back to Octo Valley to take the manhole back to Inkopolis, as didn't have enough aircraft to carry everyone to the city and they had no boats at all. The valley was somewhat close by, anyway.

"Destroy them all!" yelled Octavio, "Soon, this city will be ours!"

"Yes!" said Nero, "Kill them all! Kill them all! Kill th- SIRE! LOOK OUT!"

"Huh?" Octavio turned around to see ink missiles being fired straight at him. They hit the Octotron's shoulder, leg, and torso. "UGH! What the-?!" The Megasquid landed in front of the Octotron, glaring at him. "What?! Impossible!"

"Not impossible!" said Nathan, "This is real!"

"Shoulda known you'd show up with that. But I'm still more powerful, just you wait!"

"Even if this mech itself doesn't defeat you, you'll still go down somehow!" Nathan charged into battle, trying not to cause too much destruction to the city. Diana and Titan arrived shortly after, among other agents arriving through the manhole. Diana and Titan jumped out of the aircraft, Diana landing safely on a tall nearby building.

Titan, however, intentionally avoided the building and landed in an ink puddle he made using a Hero Shot. He took out the Octarians and Octolings that surrounded him. After they were all subdued, he was silent for a moment.

"Time to subdue these guys the old fashioned way!" he said before pressing a button on his Custom Hero Watch, one he himself created. His armor was instantly removed, revealing an Armor Jacket beneath it. The armor on his boots popped off as well, revealing black boots with green soles. His mask seemed to break in half as it was ejected off Titan's face, revealing it.

The back of the armor jacket had a large "3" printed in green on it. Titan was no doubt Agent 3 all along, as if his skill hadn't already exposed that fact. He took out two Hero Shots. "Agent 3 reporting for duty!" He charged back into battle.

"I knew it!" said Cuttlefish, who just arrived at the scene, "I knew it was him! I felt it in my gut the whole time!" The agents were joined alongside citizen willing to claim back the night. Smith and Abigail used their own inventions and machinery to their advantage, taking out multiple Octarians at once. Leo put his samurai skills to good use as he slashed away at the incoming enemies. Callie and Marie worked as an individual team to take out as many Inklings as possible.

"You will not claim this city!" said Nathan as the Megasquid and Octotron fought, spraying ink everywhere and every time a blow connected with something.

"You will not defeat me!" Octavio yelled back, "My mech is more powerful than yours! WAY more powerful!"

"It can still take you down, though! And I refuse to go down easily!" The Megasquid fired its multitude of Splatlings and Blasters, while the Octotron did mostly the same. Both also threw punches at each other, often wildly in Octavio's case, whiel also causing more damage to the city than Nathan had hoped it would. He wanted the war over so that the Linklings could live peacefully again, but that quite clearly wouldn't happen too easily.

"Agent 3!" yelled a voice. Titan turned around to see Nero behind him.

"Back for more, eh?" said Titan, "You don't know when to quit!"

"That's because I will not give up so easily!"

"You won't see mercy from me!" Titan rushed into battle, firing his weapons at Nero. The two started a brutal battle against each other. As the two giant mechs continued to fight, getting closer and closer to the city's central plaza, the war seemed to follow them.

"You...You're reckless!" yelled Nathan, "You're care for nothing! You...You have no soul!"

"That is why...I have no fear!" yelled Octavio, "Now you die!" The Octotron threw the Megasquid to the ground, and happened to crash right into Blackbelly Skatepark, nearly destroying it.

"Damn you!" Nathan said as the Megasquid got up and started throwing punches again. "Why can't you just find your own land?!"

"Because we...deserve THIS land!" The Octotron violently attacked the Megasquid. Nathan was having trouble keeping up, but managed to stay standing. Firing weapons and throwing blows, the Nathan was trying desperately to take Octavio down. But he realized that Octavio was right, the Octotron was more powerful. However, Nathan didn't let that fact bring him down, as he had managed to do cause some damage to the mech.

"Don't you ever quit?!" yelled Octavio angrily, "JUST DIE ALREADY!"

"Not without a fight first!" The Megasquid delivered a major blow to the Octotron's torso, removing the metal and revealing a glowing red sphere. It didn't take Nathan long to figure out what it was. "That's it! The core!" He continued fighting the giant mech. Meanwhile, Diana was taking out Octarians, alongside Abigail.

"What do we do about these elites?" said Diana.

"Just fire at 'em!" said Abigail. Diana did just that, firing her charger at the approaching Octoling Elites.

"Hey, ever thought of a team attack?"

"Of course!"

"Then lets get on with it! Should we try a combo?"

"Yep! And I know just how to execute it!" Abigail fired two Aerospray XGs at the elites, kneeling down as she did so.

"I knew what you're thinking!" Diana jumped onto Abigail's back and Abby launched her upwards. Diana fired at the elites coming from the back, and Abby had the front. The team of elite was splatted in seconds.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

"Ha ha! Girl power!" The two high-fived and continued onward. Abigail dealt with another group while Diana headed in another direction towards the two giant mechs. Meanwhile, Titan and Nero still fought.

"We never encountered each other two years ago," said Nero, "But I saw you defeat my master! Octavio! You were strong...but we've gotten stronger!"

"But that doesn't mean I can't defeat you!" Titan said, "As Agent 3, I will crush you!"

"You'll have to fight your way through me!" Titan delivered multiple blows to Nero, who blocked some of them. Nero charged at him again, hoping to kill Agent 3 at any cost so he could then help Octavio with defeating the Megasquid.

Meanwhile, Diana, midway into her sprint, had her weapon suddenly knocked out of her hand by a Charger shot. He pulled out her secondary weapon, a Hero Shot, but that was shot too. Three Octoling elites cornered her, the leader of the squad pointing a Charger right at her face. Her armor was stained with what looked like blood. Not a good sign.

"You were among the ones who killed Edith," she said furiously, "I saw you orange girl! You, Abigail, and that damn blue boy fought her! Abby may have killed her, but you and the blue one set it up!" Nathan noticed Diana, and slammed the Octotron's head and smashed the mech against and into a building, buying him a few seconds of precious time.

"Diana!" he said.

"There are no exceptions!" continued the Octoling, "You helped kill her, my greatest friend. And now I'm gonna avenge her! You're dead, squid girl! Dead!" Before she could pull the trigger, she and her squadmates were blasted and splatted by one of the Megasquid's blasters. Diana looked at the large puddle of dark fuchsia ink in front of her.

"Glad that happened," said Diana as she reclaimed her weapons. Nathan returned to battle, but was caught off-guard by a sucker punch from the Octotron. He realized the Megasquid had received severe damage, as did the Octotron. But the Octotron wasn't was damaged as the Megasquid. Nathan continued to fight, still managing to stand strong, but then...


	37. Chapter 37: Inkling Ascension

The Octotron's massive tentacles came down on the Megasquid, adding more damage to the mech. It threw the Megasquid into the plaza, the very heart of Inkopolis, nearly destroying Booyah Base. Nathan managed to grab one of the Octotron's tentacles, ripping it off and discarding it, placing it away from building to do no damage.

"You're really starting to get my nerves now!" Octavio said as the two mechs continued to fight, with Nathan managing to lure Octavio away from the plaza, "And that is why I'll squash you like an insect!" He kept swinging at Nathan, who was trying desperately to keep the mech in its feet. "The Octarians will prevail!" The Octotron jammed two of its tentacles into the Megasquid's left shoulder.

"Ugh...no!" Nathan said. The Octotron then used its tentacles to sever the Megasquid's entire left arm. Nathan gasped. The Megasquid would not work against the Octotron.

"I found my mech, too!" said Octavio as he had the Octotron knock the Megasquid to the ground and slammed its foot on its back. "Only I repaired and revised mine manually...so I could sort out the flaws! I don't know what you used, but it didn't work!" The Octotron's arm rose into the air, preparing the slam through the Megasquid's core.

Thankfully, Nathan escaped of the mech through a hole created when the arm was ripped off. The Octotron's arm slammed down, piercing through the Megasquid's torso, crushing its core. Nathan hid behind a building for temporary cover. The entire city was silent, unable to believe what just happened. Nathan knew he had to confirm he was okay, or his team's morale would decrease enough for the Octarians to win.

"Nathan to all units!" he said through the headset. Everyone was relieved that Nathan survived.

"Nathan!" said Diana, "You...You lost?!"

"No...not yet! The Megasquid may have failed, but I still have the Power Spark AND a secret weapon!" He took out his canned Inknado special. "Everyone, listen! If I can get a perfect shot of an Inknado right in the Octotron's core...it could tear it apart! It's heavy damaged, so we still have a chance!"

"How are you gonna aim at it, though?"

"That's why I need you guys!"

"He's right!" said Smith, "I've analyzed that thing! If we can get enough ink on its feet and the ground, we can slow it down a lot!"

"I need as many available agents as possible to help Nathan!" order Cuttlefish, "Now!" With the fate of Inkopolis at stake, and with most of the attacking Octarians subdued, most of the agents headed right for the Octotron.

"Let us help, too!" yelled Jason as he and the Elite Five entered the battlefield.

"Diana! Cover Nathan and make sure his plan isn't foiled!"

"Consider it done!" said Diana as she ran to Nathan's side.

"Glad you come over," said Nathan, "Now I can watch over ya!"

"Hehe! I could use backup too!"

"Yeah, now c'mon!"

"Right!" Diana equipped her charger.

"Follow me!" Nathan ran to the building nearest to the mech, the Squid Sisters' studio.

"We'll help you guys!" said Callie as she and Mari approached.

"We know this place like the back of our hands!" said Marie, "It's big through, so it may take us a bit to get to whatever floor you need to get to."

"The roof," Nathan said.

"Wait what?!"

"I need to get to the roof, the highest level! It's high enough for me to unleash a perfect shot at the core!"

"Okay..." said Callie, "Normally we don't do this but...it's for the city! Consider it a VIP pass!"

"Callie, stop fooling around!" said Marie.

"I'll try Super Jumping up to as high as I can go, and I'm climb up the rest of the building!" said Nathan, "The rest of you go inside and find anything you can to help the other agents! Meet at the roof!" Nathan super-umped high into the air, grabbing a pole on the building as the other three entered the building. Meanwhile, Nero and Titan were still brawling, with Nero trying to retreat to the plaza. Titan caught up with him, however, and the two continued their fight.

"You think you can beat me?!" Nero said, "I'm no ordinary Octarian general, you know!"

"Yeah, I do know!" Titan said, "But I can still-"

"Shut up!" Nero delivered a sucker punch to Titan's face and then a sweep kick, tripping him. He pinned him to the ground.

"Told ya so! Not so powerful now, huh...Agent 3!"

"Yeah? Well what if I told you I did that on purpose?"

"What?"

"To buy my PARTNER some time!"

"What part-" Nero suddenly a powerful force on his back that knocked him forward a bit. He turned around to see none other than Champion X, equipped with a silver Rapid Blaster, charging at him. He wore a black cape with a large "X" on it now, plus a standard Hero Suit 2.0. Caught off-guard, Nero drew a blank on what to do.

"This is not your city!" Champion X said as he beat Nero mercilessly with punches, kicks, and even swinging his Platinum X Roller at him. Titan joined in, aiding X. As this happened, Octavio tried to deal with the surrounding agents, but they kept firing ink at the ground and the Octotron. The Elite Five cleared paths for agents to take while the rest did what Nathan and Cuttlefish had ordered. They could not lose this fight.

Nathan the others continued their climb up the Squid Sisters studio, with Nathan literally climbing up the exterior and the other three traveling up the building from the inside. They saw agents and citizens rushing towards the Octotron, many dying but the Splatoon still managed to make some progress.

Ink was sprayed in all directions, from both Inklings and Octarians. The Octotron wasn't struggling, but the continuous amounts of ink started to have its effects. The Octotron was slowly getting weaker, much to Octavio's annoyance. The plaza was turned into a battlefield. Nearly every Inkling in the city was fighting back. It showed the great determination the Inklings had to keep their city away from Octarian clutches.

As Diana and the Squid Sisters continued, Diana noticed something out of a window. Curious, she opened it to see the Power Spark stuck in a street lamp, which was now turned off. She noticed Nathan was a few meters above it, climbing. Diana realized she could help Nathan. She grabbed the Spark, pulling it out of the lamp.

"What are you doing?" said Marie.

"Getting a tool I can use to help Nathan!" said Diana.

Meanwhile, the Elite Five, Abigail, and Smith did recon as they splatted Octarians. Abby used two Aerospray XGs to get rid of octopus mobs, Smith fired a Hero Charger at Octarians from afar, and the Elite Five did the rest. They made their way to the plaza to provide aid in the Octotron battle.

Meanwhile, X and Titan had finished beating Nero. Yet despite his defeat, Nero still stood up, though he barely could. He breathed very heavily, covered in bruises and a few cuts.

"You shouldn't have come after our city!" said Titan.

In an act of desperation for the Inklings to spare his life, Nero said, "Wait, wait! X! We need a truce! All I - and Octavio - want is a small portion of the city for us Octarian to have. Besides...Who would you be without ME, Champion?"

"Guess it's time to find out," X said in cold blood as he kicked Nero in the stomach, launching him into a not-so-sturdy wall of a building, damage by the fight between the Megasquid and Octotron. It was so damaged, that the wall collapsed. The debris fell down on Nero, seemingly crushing him under the ruble. "We will not give up the city."

"Thinking back...Wasn't that a little extreme?" said Titan.

"...I wanted to solve this without violence. But sometimes, one is left with no other choice...especially when it's a man like him."

"...I guess you have a point."

"Now c'mon! Let's go help the others take down the Octotron!" Titan and X ran to the plaza, where so much ink had been fired at the ground and the Octotron's feet that the Octotron was now like an Inkling in enemy ink - slow and maybe even stuck in the huge puddle.

"Ugh! Come on! WORK!" said Octavio as he tried to get the mech out of the ink. Nathan reached the top of the Squid Sisters building, but the Octotron wasn't facing him. He had to destroy the core with his Inknado, but he needed a clear shot of it.

"Agents, get him to face the Squid Sister's studio!" said Nathan. Titan, X, the Elite Five, Smith, and Abby arrived at the plaza. The Great Zapfish, wrapped around the infamous Inkopolis Tower, was well aware of what was going on, even though it showed its normal straight face. The agents tried and struggled, but managed to get the Octotron facing Nathan. "Now keep him still!"

"How?!" said an agent.

"You will not simply take me down!" said Octavio, "IT'S TIME TO D-" He halted when he noticed the systems of the Octotron were glitching out a bit. The level of power decreased slowly, and he soon realized the cause - the Power Spark. Diana had thrown it at the Octotron's leg, and it was now draining power. "WHAT?!"

"Nathan! Down here!" said Diana, popping her head and arm out of a newly-made hole in the glass window where the Squid Sisters recorded their news broadcasts.

"Diana!" said Nathan as he lent her a dead wire and she climbed up to the roof. "How did you get the-"

"You dropped it, apparently."

"YOU LITTLE SHITS!" yelled Octavio, "But you're not gonna get this core destr-" He was halted again when something unexpected occurred. Octavio tried to move the Octotron, but something was restraining it. "Wh-What is-" He gasped when he realized it. Wrapped around the Octotron was the Great Zapfish itself. "What?! This thing actually has a BRAIN?! It's smart?!"

"A Zapfish that can fight back!" said Cuttlefish excitedly, "Ha ha! I...I don't believe it!"

"Now Nathan!" yelled Titan, "Launch the Inknado! Finish the war!"

"Only got one shot at this!" Nathan said as he activated the canned special. His hair glowed bright as the Inknado Launcher appeared in his hands. He aimed carefully at the revealed core of the Octotron. "Well...this is it! The moment of truth!" The weapon charged.

"NO!" yelled Octavio.

"C'mon, Nathan!" said Diana.

"Fire that bad boy!" yelled David.

"Hurry!" said Smith.

Nathan mumbled to himself, "Please...let this work!" Closing his eyes tightly, Nathan pulled the trigger. The spherical missile launched itself at the Octotron. There was complete silence as it traveled. Everyone looked with widened eyes and some people looked with their jaws dropped. Nathan slightly opened his eyes to see it.

The missile made a direct hit with the Octotron core. The Great Zapfish quickly unwrapped itself from the Octotron and wrapped back around Inkopolis Tower. After a few suspenseful moments, a huge blue ink tornado burst out of the Octotron, tearing it apart. Like a true tornado, the pieces of the mech where scattered throughout the twister, being pulled away and blown through out the spiraling monstrosity.

After the tornado died down, pieces of the mech dropped down. Thankfully, no one was harmed by the falling debris. The sun began to raise over the horizon, signalling a new day had begun. A huge puddle of blue ink covered the plaza in front of Inkopolis tower. There was pure silence. Octarian forces retreated away from the plaza and attempted to run out of the city. Some were caught and others did manage to successfully escape.

Nathan and several others noticed something in the blue puddle. Octavio, greatly weakened yet somehow still alive. He moved very slow, and much of the heavy armor on his upper body was destroyed.

"Diana..." said Nathan, "...I need a charger."

"I know what you're thinkin'," said Diana as she lent Nathan a Hero Charger. He jumped down into the puddle and slowly walked towards Octavio, who had finally accepted defeat. Cuttlefish stood close by. There was a complete silence.

"Cuttlefish...All I ever wanted...was the survival of my race," said Octavio, "You must see why...I had to betray you that day...100 years ago..."

"You didn't betray us, my friend-now-enemy," said Cuttlefish, approaching, "...The only thing you betrayed...was yourself and your species. You had a second chance, and you didn't take it. You killed hundreds, maybe even thousands! But today...that ends."

"This could've ended another way," said Nathan as he pointed the Hero Charger at Octavio's head, "But you chose the other way. I actually feel sorry for you...but you leave me no choice! You will pay for all you've done!"

"N-No, Nathan!" said Octavio, but he couldn't say anymore before Nathan pulled the charger's trigger, splatting and killing Octavio forever. His armor scattered around where he died, sitting there.

The war was finally over.


	38. Chapter 38: War's End

There was a long silence. Nathan was still for a moment. He dropped the charger on the ground as the ink around him started to vanish, as it normally would. He walked a few feet away from where Octavio was executed, towards the center of the plaza.

"Agents!" Nathan yelled out, "Today...we stand victorious! The Octarian King Octavio is finally no more!"

"You have all done well!" said Cuttlefish, "This day...belongs to squidmanity!" He rose his fist into the air. Everyone else did so as well, cheering and celebrating as the raising sun lit up the sky. Inkopolis would not fall to Octarians today, or any day. The Inklings had won. It was no easy victory, but it had finally arrived and was worth all the work, the pain, and the exhaustion.

Nathan stood in silence, remarking on the events of the past. He didn't regret anything. He smiled, happy with the results. At long last, the Great Turf War II was finally over. In just a few days, Nathan had gone from an ordinary Inkling to a hero, one that Inkopolis would always remember.

"Nathan!" yelled a voice. Nathan turned around to see Diana running for him. He walked towards her, and his walk turned into a sprint. The two embraced one other upon reaching each other. Diana had tears streaming down her face like waterfalls, she couldn't believe the war was over, yet at the same time she could.

"I...can't believe it!" said Diana, "We won! We actually won!"

"...Yes Diana...we did," said Nathan. The two were silent and still for a moment, and they were even blushing. Eventually, they let go and examined the surroundings. the plaza was damaged, as was much of the city. Two entire stages were destroyed, and many other buildings were heavily damaged as well, and a majority of the damage was due to the fight between the huge mechs.

"Look at all this damage..." said Smith, who was nearby.

"It's gonna take years to repair all this!" said an agent. Nathan looked around and spotted the Power Spark, still impaled in a piece of metal from the Octotron, now a pile parts just like the Ultimate Weapon now was. Nathan then looked at Inkopolis Tower, where the Great Zapfish looked at him.

"I know what you're thinking," said Titan, "That Spark is capable. But its gonna have to use its final charge. The tower, being where the Great Zapfish resides, is the core of Inkopolis. And since everything in the city likely runs on the power of the Zapfish from the tower, then the Power Spark's ability to repair can fix a majority of city. Not everything of course, but enough for reconstruction to take only about a year or two."

"...Really?" Diana said.

"As far as I know. Don't worry, the Great Zapfish will not be effected."

"...Alright," said Nathan as he headed for the tower, climbing to the top, even getting help from the Great Zapfish. Nathan eventually reached the top of the tower, and plunged the Spark into it, using its final charge to repair anything it could in the city. Nathan was shocked at how fast it was doing so. It managed to repair 65% of the city once it was done.

"How did it do that?!" said Abigail.

"It's a technology I can't explain," said Titan, "I do not know how it works, and I likely never will. But basically it repaired anything in the city with technology in it. Many buildings are still heavily damaged, but the Power Spark has just saved us a lot of work."

"Sooo...what now?" said Diana, "The war's over, the city is safe...where do we go from here?"

"Back to normal life, I suppose," said Cuttlefish, "I'll still keep an eye out for the Octarians, but their numbers have greatly decreased due to the war."

"Just go back to normal life?" said Callie, "We just won a WAR! This victory deserves a celebration!"

"Of course it does!" said Marie.

"I guess we can," said Smith, "The plaza is unharmed. But we should wait at least a few days, let the city recover a bit."

"I agree," said Nathan, "We could all use the rest."

 _ **One Week Later...**_

The city of Inkopolis was celebrating their victory over the Octarians underneath the moon and stars. Like a special Splatfest, the entire city was lit up with festive lights. Areas under reconstruction did not have lights, and were for the most part unable to be accessed by citizens while workers and builders worked on the damaged buildings. The Power Spark, now completely drained of power, was donated to a museum, where it resides for the citizens to see.

At was discovered a few days after the war's end that the Octarian kettles had been intentionally sealed off. At first this sparked confusion, but Abby realized that the Octarians gave up and sealed themselves off from the world, possibly forever. Some Octolings who were part of Abigail's rebellion squad remained and had ironically somehow made peace with the Inklings, though they lived in the abandoned Octarian Camp that would soon become a new town.

Nearly all of the city's population was dancing, celebrating, or having special Turf Wars. Even the major leagues joined in on the fun, some minors even meeting major league legends. The city just wanted to have fun. After such A long war, they wanted to unwind and relieve themselves of the stress.

Nathan was standing atop a grassy cliff near Octo Valley, looking over Inkopolis. He had played a lot of Turf War, making it to "King" rank during the Splatfest in less than two hours. It was midnight, and he was taking a break. He saw that the Octarians truly were sealed away from the world. He was wearing a FireFry Visor, with a Camo Layered LS and Gold Hi-Horses.

"Don't like parties, kid?" said Titan as he and Diana walked up to him, Diana sitting right beside Nathan, holding his hand.

"Look at it," said Diana, "The city looks beautiful from here!" Diana was wearing a Squid Hairclip, a Sunny Day Tee, and School Shoes.

"The entire city is celebrating its triumph against the Octarians. And we have you to thank for that."

"No," said Nathan, "It wasn't me alone. It took all of us to take them down. This celebration belongs to all of us."

"Fine words indeed, Nathan," said Cuttlefish as he approached, back in his older form, "But you are my great soldier."

"I agree with him," said Titan, "Even I, Agent 3, think that you're the greatest hero of history so far. This celebration should be for YOU. You DID weaken the Octotron with the Megasquid. Without it, it would've taken much larger to win...if we even could."

"...Hey...Nathan," said Diana, "I've been meaning to tell you something..."

"Huh?" said Nathan.

"...I guess it would be kind if we gave you two some privacy," said Cuttlefish. He and Titan left. Nathan and Diana sat there, looking at each other for a moment.

"I...I just wanted to say...that this whole war...It felt more of an adventure actually."

"...I guess you're right there," said Nathan, "I remember when this all started...just the second day we moved into the city...I remember the Turf War before it, the ambush, meeting Cuttlefish..."

"...And our first mission...the containers and the Octolings. Not to mention all the good guys we met...Cuttlefish, Smith, Callie, and Marie. Then the mercy mission after I was attacked, and the Octoscorpio, and meeting the Elite Five and Abigail."

"Then there was the Octomaw...then Leo, Cuttlefish revitalized, meeting Titan..."

"...Then there was the last battle against Edith. The one where Abby killed her."

"And it all lead up to the final battle. The Ultimate Weapon...the Octotron..."

"And then...our victory."

"I never felt so relieved in my life...I didn't know if that Inknado was really gonna work. Glad it did."

Repeating the very words Nathan said to her earlier in the war, Diana said, "...You just have to have faith in yourself." Nathan looked at her with a smile on his face.

"That's the spirit, girl! That's the spirit!"

"Hehe...yeah. Let's rest...enjoy the midnight sky. It's been a long first few days for us. We could use the rest."

"...Yeah. I suppose you're right." Diana lay down besides Nathan, her head on his lap. Nathan blushed a little and looked at the city again. He was silent. He smiled. In the end, his final mission had been accomplished. Inkopolis was safe again at last.

Nathan felt himself fading into sleep, he knew it was time to get some shuteye. He laid down in the grass, with Diana positioning herself so that her head was on Nathan's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and looked at the stars as he drifted off to sleep. Tonight would be a peaceful night. The war may have ended, but a new start was only just beginning. The beginning of their new lives...Lives that would be remember forever.

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well...that's it! The end! Thank you to ALL of you for reading my story! It truly means a lot to me! Tell me what you liked in the review section, and feel free to leave some constructive criticism too, it helps me improve! I really hope you guys liked Inkling Ascension, and I'll be sure to write more stories soon!**_


	39. Special News!

Hey hey hey! It's been a good two years by now, and I'm not sure if anyone's actually going to see this. But I'm here to announce that I am working on a sequel to this long-forgotten story (for real this time), and/or may be rebooting this one to fit with the timeline more after the release of Splatoon 2.

The sequel, for now, is simply called " **Inkling Ascension 2** " and will primarily focus on new characters rather than Nathan and Diana. The new main protagonist will be revealed soon. Chances are this story will also take a lot longer to develop than the last. If you want to get status updates on how the story is coming, I might have a Twitter page set up soon that will post periodic updates on how things are going; but I'm not sure right now.

If the first IA story (this one) is rebooted/revised, it'll likely be different in terms of plot but still have a majority of the characters. (It won't be as "out there" so to say.) Ultimately, this version will still be available and renamed to " **Inkling Ascension - Beta** ".

However, I unfortunately can't 100% guarantee these projects will happen. I may end up not having time to work on it or I might not be able to work on it due to some other reason. I promise that I will try my hardest to make at least the sequel, but again there's no guarantee it'll be released soon.

Regardless of what happens, I hope you look forward to the upcoming project(s)!


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